The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
by Merlac
Summary: Ash storms spread, the Sixth House rises. A stranger is born under a certain sign to uncertain parents. Is the prophecy true, or will the people of Morrowind fall against the armies of Dagoth Ur?
1. Outlander

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Chapter One: Outlander

"Wake up. Wake up, cyridil. I think we have arrived to… somewhere."

A young man, who was sleeping on the wooden floor until this interruption, slowly opened his eyes and was almost startled to death. About half-an-inch from his head, was a green-blue head of a lizard-creature, who looked at him and turned his head in curiosity.

"In the name of Almsivi, don't ever do that again! I almost wet my pants you know…"

"I thought you imperials don't hear so well, unlike we aragornians.", the lizard said, drew his head backwards and stood up.

"So you decided to scream at my ear? If I have had a dagger in my hand, I might have killed you as an assassin.", said the man, smiling.

"Like somebody would like to kill you", replied the aragornian sarcastically, but also smiling. "We're slaves, prisoners, nothing, the lowest beings in Tamriel."

"Like I didn't know that already, please don't remind me again about that, will you?"

The imperial rose up, rubbed his shoulder and took his dirty shirt from the floor. This shirt and his – if possible – even dirtier grey trousers were everything he owned. As the man got dressed, the aragornian spoke again.

"I hear footsteps coming this way, they are coming for us I believe. In case they separate us, good luck, my friend."

"You too, my friend", said the imperial. "It has been a pleasure indeed to travel with you in this royal ship."

They both laughed. Suddenly, there were sound of a key turning in the door lock. They glanced at the door as it opened and a guard step in. He didn't look much better than the two prisoners, as his dirty long hair and worn leather-cuirass made him look like a war hero, who has been wandering in a desert several years. Or he just hadn't washed himself for a long while…

"Get up!", the guard growled. "Not you!", shouted him and pushed the aragornian backwards, as he had taken a step forward to follow. "Follow me, imperial."

The man tapped the aragornian's shoulder and followed the guard through the door to main cargo hold.

"So, where are we?", asked the man.

"Shut up, you filthy piece of scum."

"No chit chat it seems…", said the man to himself quietly.

They arrived to a small wooden staircase, which led to a wooden hatch in the roof.

"To the deck imperial, and let's try to keep this as civil as possible", said the guard and pointed at the hatch.

The man took a deep breath, opened the hatch and climbed to the ship's deck. Blinding sunlight hit the man's eyes and it took a short moment for the eyes to adapt. He was standing on the deck of a small merchant ship, docked in the harbour of a small but brisk village. Most of the harbour were enclosed with a tall wooden fence, but still is was possible to see a huge, insect-like animal standing on six long, thin legs behind the wall. It had some clothes hanging in its sides and a big carved hole in its large chitin shell, which looked much like a pair of seats.

There was another guard, this time a bit better dressed, standing on the wharf.

"Hey, you there! Would you come here for a second, please?", the guard called the man.

The man walked to the guard a bit surprised, as nobody had asked him kindly to do anything in the prison, everything was confirmed with a whip. The man stopped next to the guard and waited, as the guard dug a scroll of paper from his pocket.

"Prisoner 2231 from the Sotha prison?", asked the guard.

"I'm prisoner 2231 yes, but I have no idea what prison I was in."

"Oh, but well, I think you're the right guy anyway. Could you follow me please?"

"Sure, but could you tell me what's going on in here? If you ask me, I'd have rather stayed in the prison rather than be sold as a slave to some rich old fool in some god-forsaken place…"

"No no, you have got it all wrong", the guard interrupted, sounding apologetic. "You will be set free."

"Err… what!?" The man was stunned. All his live, he had been somebody's property, or in jail. Why would somebody… or anybody want him set free? Like the guard in the ship had said; lowest scum in Tamriel. "Are you sure you've got the right guy?"

The guard looked at his paper, then back to the man and smiled. "Yes, I believe I've got the right man. We got direct orders from the Emperor himself. But look, I'm just a guard, maybe the harbour master knows more. Please, follow me to the census and excise office."

The guard turned around and started walking along the wharf towards the nearest building in the root of the wooden fence. The man had no choice but to follow him to the building. As they walked, the guard spoke again.

"Oh, by the way, I need your name here on the paper."

"My name?", the man asked.

"Yes, your name, please."

"I don't have a name… they never gave me one… my parents… I never knew them actually… I grew up in a children's home, just before I was sold to my first owner."

"Oh, that's sad to hear…", said the guard. "But l need to put something here… could you make up a name for yourself?"

"The man thought for a moment, make up a name?"

The was some engravings in the building wall. "M…E…R…L…A…C…" the man read.

"Does 'Merlac' mean anything?" the man asked.

"Umm… I don't think so… at least not in the language of imperials or dunmer. It sounds like daedra, but I can't be sure. Well, is it now your name? Fine then. Prisoner 2231, Merlac the imperial. There you go.", said the guard happily, signed the paper and put it back to his pocket.

"All right then, in you go", he said, pointing at the door labelled "Census and Excise Office". "Go in and talk to Caius Closcius, the excise responsible.

Merlac bit his lips fast, lifted his posture a bit and walked in. As he entered the room, a warm, homely feeling flooded against him. There was a big fireplace burning in the wall and opposite to it in the other side of the room was a small corridor. There was a guard posing in the corner, looking slightly tired. In the middle of the room, were three tables full of papers, and behind them stood an old man with relatively long white beard. The man lifted his look when Merlac stopped in front of him.

"Excuse me, where could I find Caius Closcius?", asked Merlac.

"Ah, so you are the man we have been talking about!", replied the old man considerably gratifyingly. "I'm the man you are looking for and I got a letter from ministry of truth with a royal signet of the Emperor himself, this has been so exciting!"

"Well… sorry, but I can't tell you much, as I just heard I'm going to be set free."

"The is not much to wonder, if the Emperor himself wants you free, then it is our job to do so, right?", said the old man smiling. He took a candle and poured melted candlewax into four papers, put the candle back to the table and pressed a "C.C." –marking to all four papers with his ring. "Now, my friend, you are free."

"Oh… well what should I do now?", asked Merlac. "I have no idea what to do, where to go or… heck, I don't even know which part of Tamriel I am in!"

"How unfortunate.", said the old man with sympathy. "I cant tell you everything that has happened during last years while you were prison, - like there would be much to tell - but what I can tell you is that you are in small fishing village called Seyda Neen, island of Vvardenfell, province of Morrowind, the northeasternmost province in Tamriel."

"Morrowind?", asked Merlac. "You mean the huge island of dark elves and imperial colonies?"

"Yes, that same island. Though the colonies are lively towns and cities nowadays. The Lord Vivec himself lives in Vivec, the biggest city in Vvardenfell."

"Err… could I see the Emperor, please? I'd like to know why he set me free.", Merlac asked.

At this point, both the old man and the guard who had been standing quietly in the corner, burst laughing in tears.

"What? What!?", Merlac asked in irritated astonishment.

"You can't meet the Emperor.", the old man said. "He is the king, not just a local town governor who you could meet if you fill in dozens of papers, wait few weeks and pride some people, IF you're lucky."

Merlac stood still for few moments, feeling a bit insulted. How could he know the ways of a place where he had never been in his life?

"But," the man continued, "there is a place where I can send you to. This letter from the Emperor also orders you to report an imperial man called Caius Cosades in town of Balmora. And no, I don't know why. I don't even know the man, or what he does for living. I also don't know how to find him from Balmora, the letter doesn't say."

"So, how am I going to find this Balmora then? You have a guide for me?", asked Merlac.

"No, I don't have a guide for you, but here, take this scroll. It's a travelling guide to Balmora. There are two common ways to go there. First way is to walk there, using that guide. Second one is to use public transportation, if you have money, of course."

"And what is that?"

"Money? Oh, sorry… how silly of me to assume that a poor kid would know what money is…"

"No, not money you old fool! I mean what is the public transportation in this place? A ship? Is Balmora on an island?", asked Merlac, starting to get tired to this old happy man.

"Ah.. of course, sorry.", said the man shamefully. "Silt strider."

"A what?"

"You can travel to Balmora with a silt strider. It's the huge bug in the middle of the town, you can't miss it unless you are both blind and stupid."

"Oh that…", said Merlac. "Well, how much does it cost to travel with that thing?"

"It depend how much the driver likes you, my friend.", said the old man happily. "If he doesn't like you, he might not take you to Balmora at all. But don't worry, people of Morrowind are polite and friendly. Though some of the might eschew outlanders, traders, smiths and people who run silt strider services are still attracted by septims."

"Septims?"

"Septim is the local monetary unit."

"How can I get some septims, as I'm new here and I need some food to live, you know?"

"Well, it depends.", said the old man. "If you don't like to travel, you could build yourself a house and start working as a smith or a trader. Though some people think that there are already more than enough traders on this island."

"Any other ways?"

"One way is to join the imperial legions, and become a soldier. Their salary is quite low and the daily routines are exhausting, but they give you full upkeep in food and place to stay at nights. Though you can't leave the fort between holidays, unless assigned a job which requires travelling somewhere. Oh, and you need to pay for your cuirass and sword, which you will have to buy from the fort's armoury. Uniformity, you know.", the old man winked his eye.

"As I don't have any money, nor any combat training, that might not be the best place."

"I though so as well. Well there is one more legal option left, but it's rather time-consuming and often even dangerous…"

"And what is that?", Merlac asked impatiently.

"Go freelance. You may do whatever you wish, whenever you wish and using methods you prefer, as long as you don't break the law, of course. Most of the freelancers usually loot caves and caverns for antique weapons, armour and items, left there by previous adventurers, who probably died in the same place several years before doing the same thing. Then you go and sell the stuff you find. Sounds easy, but I would really like to see how a young man like you with no combat experience would try to defeat even a lonely bandit who tries to rob you in the middle of nowhere, while travelling somewhere."

"You said that was the last legal way to earn money, what about the illegal ones?"

"I hope you are kidding, my friend. The last thing you want at the moment, is to get yourself into some imperial fort's jail.", the old man said cautionarily. "Of course there are things like thievery, smuggling and robbing shrines, like in all cities of Tamriel. But I warn you again, those acts are strongly illegal and there are guards patrolling the streets in all towns. Some of them, like the one standing in corner behind you while he should be DOING SOMETHING", said the man suggestively to the guard standing in the corner.

"Err… excuse me, sir?", said the guard.

"Ah never mind, you blind fool. And you, Merlac, put those septims back to the table where you took them."

"What septims?", asked Merlac, trying to sound not guilty.

The old man took a deep sight, walked around the tables and took seven green septims from Merlac's trouser pockets.

"So, I'm going back to jail now, right?", asked Merlac sounding scary.

"No, I let you go for now because you don't know our ways yet. But be warned; the people of Morrowind might be friendly, but they don't like thieves. Put that into your mind."

The old man took a deep breath and smiled again.

"All right then, off you go, to Seyda Neen.", said the old man, pointing at the corridor.

"Sure… and thanks for the guide," said Merlac and waved the _Guide to Balmora _–scroll in his hand, smiling. "Oh, and one more thing", said Merlac and walked back to the table. "You said thievery is illegal, but you'll let me go this time, I think I'd better return these to you as well."

After Merlac had said this, he put his hands into his pockets, and started piling up things to the table. The census minister and the guard were only able to stare in astonishment, as Merlac took ten more coins from his left trouser pocket. And an old amulet, followed by pair of forks and knives, made from silver, small ring and three keys. Finally, Merlac kneeled and took a small silver ring from his shoe, with markings "C.C." on it. He put the ring to the table as well, smiled, and walked across the room to the corridor, leaving the two men staring at the small pile of stuff what they did not notice him stealing. The guard took the three keys from the table, put them back hanging to his belt, walked back to his corner and continued posing and staring at the opposite wall, feeling a bit embarrassed. The old man shook his head and smiled.


	2. Seyda Neen

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Chapter Two: Seyda Neen

Merlac walked along the corridor. There were few wooden doors on the sides but as they all looked alike, he though it would be better to just walk forward. In the end of the corridor there was a staircase leading downwards. As he already was in the ground floor, the stairs would propably lead to a basement or something, so he walked into a room nearby which had no door at all. In the corner of the room was a small table, with some tableware and a half-eaten bread on it. The forks and knives were made of silver, and there were nobody in the room watching.

"Ah what the heck, I was just set free, maybe I should really try to be one day without stealing everything that shines.", said Merlac to himself.

In front of him was another door with a small metallic sign in it. Merlac wiped some dust from the sign and read. "To Seyda Neen", he read. "Well, here goes nothing", he though, opened the door and walked outside to the village.

Merlac closed the door behind him and looked around. He was standing in the middle of a small lively village. Several people walked around, carrying baskets, barrels or fishnets, but not very many of them took a look at him while going past him. On the right side Merlac saw a group of one-stored buildings with small windows and strawceilings, propably people's own houses. The houses on the left were bigger, mostly two floors high, and some distance away behind them was a small wooden lighthouse built on a big rock few meters from the shore.

"Well, if I'm going to stay on island for some time, I think I need to get myself to that Balmora-place." Merlac glanced at the huge insect which was standing behind the nearby building. "But first, I need some septims. The last thing I want to do at this point, is to walk across the this unfamiliar island and become robbed by some local bandits… like I had anything to steal though.", he though by himself.

There was a large sign waving in the in the wind, hanging from the eaves of a two-storey building. The sign said "Arrille's Tradehouse". 

"That might be a good place to start, I wonder if they pay me anything for my shirt…", Merlac laughed to himself.

As he took a step towards the tradehouse, Merlac heard something break under his bare foot. He raised his leg and saw a small wooden box he had stepped. Merlac took it into his hand and opened the broken cover. Inside the box was a small silver ring with a small red stone mounted on it.

"Hey, this is what I call a good start, and they can't even blame me for thievery.", Merlac smiled.

Suddenly, a short bosmer with a funny-looking yellow beard ran to him.

"Oh you've found it, haven't you!", the bosmer shouted happily. "You found Fargoth's ring! Oh Fargoth likes you, Fargoth always your friend! May Fargoth have his ring now?", the bosmer said, jumping happily in front of Merlac.

Merlac gave the ring to Fargoth, feeling a bit annoyed. He would have got nice amount of septims if he had sold the ring in Arrille's tradehouse.

The bosmer stopped jumping and put the ring into his finger. "Thank you, outlander. Fargoth always your friend. It is good that outlander didn't try to sell Fargoth's ring or anything, or they would have arrested the outlander. Fargoth told everybody that his ring was stolen, you see? But thanks to you, my faithful friend imperial, Fargoth got his ring back! Here, take these outlander, Fargoth wants to reward his friend!" Bosmer gave a small bag to Merlac, and jumped happily away, screaming happily "Fargoth got his ring back! Fargoth's friend the imperial gave it to him!"

All this had happened in matter of seconds, and Merlac had no choice but to keep staring after this weird bosmer in astonishment. Then he looked at the small bag in his hand and opened it. It was full of coins. Merlac stared at the bag looking even more puzzled. He turned the bag over and poured the coins to his other hand. Total 20 brown coins, all of them with number 8 engraved into them. 160 septims… there had to be a trick. Or was there? Merlac walked up the small stairs to Arrille's tradehouse, opened the door, and walked in feeling exited.

Inside the tradehouse, Merlac ignored the numerous shelves full of all sorts of items from weapons to clothes and from food supplies to hammers. He also ignored the two guards standing on the corners watching the people inside the store. Merlac walked straight to the wooden counter.

"Welcome to Arrille's tradehouse, outlander. How may I help you? I have the finest common supplies in Seyda Neen, well… I'm the only trader here but anyway."

"Hi.", said Merlac and dropped one coin to the counter. "Is this real money?"

Arrille took the coin to his hand and took a careful look at it. He turned it around, scraped it with his fingernail, bit it and gave it back.

"Eight septims.", the trader said, smiling.

"Excellent.", said Merlac. "Sorry for the strange question, but I'm new in here and…"

"No need to apologise, sir. As soon as you stepped through my doorway, I say you are not from around here. That means you are an outlander. Many outlanders come to Morrowind through Seyda Neen, as the Census and Excise office is here. That's about everything that is here, though. Almost every day somebody comes and asks something about the money or the local habits. This tradehouse is the best place for gossips, as there is no 'watering hole', or a bar, like the rich people would say, in here."

"All right, what can you sell me for eight septims, my friend?", said Merlac, trying this local habit of calling everybody friends.

"Hmm.", the trader though. "I could wash your shirt for eight septims and that's about it. Even though Seyda Neen is a small village, this ain't very cheap you know."

"Ok then, how about… one hundred and sixty septims?"

The trader looked a bit suprised, but his smile returned to his face rapidly.

"Ah sir, I didn't guess… because of your clothing. 160 septims is not much either, but I could give you… umm… new shirt, common, but clean, pants, cheap shoes and…"

"I also need a ride to Balmora, do you know how much the silt strider wants to take me there?"

"Ah, the caravaner is a good friend of mine, Darvame Hleran I mean. Tell him that you bought some things from my tradehouse and that you are an outlander, like he wouldn't see it anyway, and I believe he will take you there for free this time. A good way to make customers, eh?", smiled Arrille.

"Thank you a lot. So, a ride to Balmora, pants, shirt and…"

"a free piece of advice, if you want.", continued Arrille. "154 septims total."

Merlac gave all his money to the trader and smiled. 

"Keep the change. Six septims ain't enough to even wash my shirt, so let's say it is the payment for good service and that piece of advice."

Arrille grinned. "Whatever you wish, sir. And then that piece of advice. If you go to Balmora, you may wish to visit a trader there too. Ra'Virr, a khajiit, is the trader in Balmora. Tell him that I sent you, and he might give you some discount. Some people even say you could buy daedric weapons from him."

"Dae…what?"

"Daedric weapons", replied Arrille.

As Merlac continued looking puzzled, the trader continued.

"The Daedra are the most feared monsters who live here on Morrowind. Most of them are just creatures, unable to use and make weapons, of course, but deep inside the most dangerous caverns, there are dremoras, humanoids wearing unbeatable daedric armour and fighting with unbelievably sharp daedric swords and axes. If you are a extremely skilled warrior with excellent armour and powerful enchanted weapon, - as no normal weapon can kill daedra or undead creatures – and if you are very lucky, you might get yourself a daedric sword or even a piece of extremely light daedric armour. Every trader and smith here in Morrowind would gladly pay thousands of septims for a undamaged piece of daedra weaponry. But if I were you, I wouldn't sell it."

"Why? Isn't thousands of septims a hell of a lot money, right?"

"It is more than even employees of the ministry justice earn in a year, but daedric items may be more valuable for you if you keep them."

"And why is that", asked Merlac, starting to feel excited.

"Because Daedric weapons are the finest weapons known in Tamriel. Their sharpness is without match and they are almost as light as chitin.", said the trader with his eyes glowing with enthusiasm.

"And the dea…daedric armour? Are they good too?", asked Merlac.

"You bet they are! They are lighter than any other armour of that size. Daedric armour is undestroyable with normal weapons, like swords, axes or arrows, so you need either very strong spell from the field of pure destruction, or a powerful enchanted sword and enough magical skills to use it at full power to break daedric cuirass, for example."

"Sounds… durable. Are the daedric items really worth all that?"

"Absolutely!", screamed the trader. "Even the holy ordinators, the guards of the tribunal temple in Vivec, don't have weapons or armour that powerful,"

"Ok, I try to keep this in my mind in case I ran into some… dremora.", said Merlac and winked.

"You do that, my friend, and if you do find any daedric items, please come and show them to me too, I have never seen them anywhere else than just drawings."

"Sure, but look, I got to get going now. Thanks for the clothes and advice, I hope your business keeps running smoothly in the future, my friend."

"This is Seyda Neen, not much chances of that happening, but thank you anyway, outlander!."

The trader smiled widely as Merlac walked to the doorway, look back one more time, waved his hand at Arrille and stepped out. His life had just started working better than during last 20 years of his miserable life. He was now able to have a fresh start, and he was going to do it. Now he just had to find this Caius Cosades –guy, maybe he could answer to his numerous questions, and maybe, just maybe, he might find out eventually if there were any purpose in his life. There just might be, but it will take some time for Merlac to realise it…


	3. South Wall Corner Club

****

Chapter Three: South Wall Corner club

Next thing Merlac had to do, was to get himself to Balmora. As his walked down the tradehouse's stairs, it was already rather dark. He walked around the block of small houses and up to a small hill, where was a wooden wharf leading to the back of the silt striker. Merlac was scared to notice that the insect was not standing behind the houses, like he had first thought, but on a rather deep pond, and still the passengers had to climb to that small hill to get into its back. As he walked along the wharf, the man sitting on the chairs engraved to the insect's chitin back, noticed him and stood up.

"Hello there, outlander!", the man yelled. "Need a ride? Same low price, just for you, my friend."

"Hi, you are Darvame Hleran, I presume?"

"That's me, lowest silt strider taxes in Seyda Neen, my friend."

"Are there many of you in this village?"

"No no, just me, but that is why I am the cheapest.", grinned the caravaner.

"All right, well, I need a ride to Balmora, and Arrille told me you might be able to help, so…"

"Speak no more, my friend. Jump in and take a comfortable position, as much as it's possible when riding with these things, and hang on. Next stop, Balmora, city of Hlaalu and the center of trade in Morrowind!"

Merlac had hardly sat on the engraved seat, when the caravaner gave a whistle and the huge insect-like silt strider lifted its six long legs from the mud and started swinging forward slowly. As soon as it reached solid ground, it gave a incredible thundering sound, which made one of the houses roof to collapse. Slowly, it accelerated into extremely uncomfortable gallop and started running up the hill. Merlac was hardly able to sit tight, but the caravaner just stood there with his other leg on the edge of the engraving and screaming of joy. This would be a journey to remember…

When they arrived to Balmora, it was already completely dark and some smaller insects flew in the chilly air.

"Hey, outlander. Wake up, we're almost in Balmora."

Merlac opened his eyes and stretched his back. The silt strider was now walking slowly towards a small town, situated on the both sides of a small river. Several windows glowed in candle light and there were few guards walking on the streets with burning torches, but when looking at them so far away it seemed like a group of fireants would be walking in the night. As they came nearer, they crossed a bridge to the other side of the river. The caravaner whistled and silt strider stopped near a small gate in stone wall, which went around the whole town. The river streamed through the town from north to south, and in west and east Balmora was outlined by two hills, which continued to both sides along the river.

As Merlac climbed down to the ground with a rope, the caravaner wished him a good night and pleasant stay in Balmora.

"If you ever need a ride to Ald'ruhn, Vivec, or back to Seyda Neen, just go and ask my good friend Selvil Sareloth.", the caravaner shouted from the back of the strider and pointed at another silt strider standing next to the town wall. After that his strider made another noise like a huge foghorn, turned around and started walking back to Seyda Neen along the river.

Merlac started walking towards the gate. He stopped next to a flag which had text "Balmora" on it with big painted letters. As he continued through the gate, he stopped again and took a look at the town. Unlike Seyda Neen, this town's buildings were made from rock, maybe even partly of volcanic rock. On the west side of the river the buildings were bigger and more decorative. Buildings on the east side looked poor and dusty.

"Now, where on earth am I going to find that Caius Cosades", thought Merlac himself.

Like as an answer, a guard wearing a yellow, but not-so-shiny bonemold armour set and holding a torch in his hand came to him.

"Tell me outlander, what do you need?"

"Oh, hi. Well, I'm new in here and I'm looking for Caius Cosades, do you know where to find him?"

"I only know the names of Hlaalu nobles in here, outlander.", replied the guard. "But I suggest you visit the South Wall Corner club in the other side of the river. Like the name says, it's next to the south wall. I'm sure somebody there knows this man you are looking for. And remember, outlander, justice never sleeps!"

After the guard had said this, he saluted, turned around and started walking away along the street with his torch fluttering.

"South Wall Corner club… right.", said Merlac to himself.

Merlac walked to the river and looked around. There were three bridges going over the river inside the city, and fourth outside the walls. Most of the citizens had already went inside their houses, but one could still see several guards and few nobles walking the streets with torches. Merlac crossed the nearest bridge and in the other side walked back to the south wall. Most of the houses had their owner's names engraved to the wooden doors, but in the end of the street he arrived to a bit larger house, which had laughter coming from inside. The wooden sight outside the house said "South Wall Corner Club", but the "b" hanging with only one peg, upside down. Merlac opened the door and stepped in.

As he stepped in, a strong stink of booze caught his nose. There were wooden stairs leading to the second floor and a oblique corridor leading downwards, under the ground. Near the door was a man sleeping on a chair.

"Excuse me", said Merlac and pushed the man carefully to shoulder. No response. The man was clearly unconscious. There were big, empty tankard broken in the floor next to the chair.

Merlac started walking downwards along the corridor, as the laughter increased. In the midway, an ugly man with a short unkempt beard came behind the corner. He took a fast look at Merlac and then continued wandering past him, totally drunk. Merlac politely gave way to him, as the corridor wasn't very wide and he didn't want to touch this man. Merlac walked around the corner and looked around. He had arrived to the main bar room, it seemed. There were about dozen wooden tables scattered around the room, and a small barkeeper's table in the corner nearby. As Merlac came closer, the female imperial barkeeper spoke.

"Hi there, outlander. Do you want something to drink?", she asked.

"Err… no thanks, maybe later. I'm looking for somebody and I was wondering if you could help me?"

"Sure, who are you lookin…."

She stopped speaking as a short, skinny old man staggered to them and leant over the table.

"Hi there beautysh… *hiccup*", the old man winked at the barkeeper, and then turned his attention towards Merlac. "I fo…fought in Red Mountain against the ash vam…vampires of Dagoth Ur himselfsh…", the man gibberished.

"I think you've had enough drinks for today", said the barkeeper with friendly voice. "Why don't you go home now and take a good night's sleep?"

The old man staggered for a short moment and then, without a word, started waving towards the corridor.

"Nice fellow", Merlac said.

"Yeah", said the barkeeper. "He is my daily customer in here. Always talking about those wars against the dwarves and Dagoth Ur to anyone who listens… or just stays still long enough."

"Err… dwarves? I've heard about them, but… didn't they vanish long, long time ago? And who is this Dogghy Ur?"

"Yes, they disappeared hundreds of years ago, so that old man has never fought against them, and it's Dagoth Ur, not Dogghy."

"And who is he?"

The barkeeper looked around, checked that nobody was listening to them, and started speaking.

"I don't know what parts of the legend are true history, and what are just fairy tales, I'm not sure if nobody knows, but long, long time ago, Morrowind was populated dwarves. They lived in their forts and strongholds in the middle of their unbeatable technology and culture. No other people in Tamriel were as technologically advanced as the dwarves. They were the masters of machines and warfare."

"If they were so intelligent, then why did they disappear?", asked Merlac unpatiently.

"Please let me continue, outlander. So, the dwarves were intelligent indeed. The other inhabitants of Morrowind were the Chimer. The chimer praised the daedra as their gods, you've heard of daedra, right?"

"Yes I have actually, please, continue."

"The chimer worshipped daedra because of their cruel beauty and mighty power. But the dwemer laughed at the pity false religions and mocked at their rituals, and preferred instead their gods of Reason and Logic. That caused that the dwemer and the chimer were always at all-out-war. Until the Nords came."

"The Nords?"

"The barbaric human invaders from the north, from the lands of snow and blood. The dwemer and chimer put their differences aside and joined their forces against the invaders. Once the Nords were driven out, General Nerevar of the Chimer and General Dumac of the Dwemer, who had come to love and respect one another, resolved to make peace between their people. "

The barkeeper looked around looking scary again, and lowered his voice even more.

"That is all I know for sure, the rest is just rumours from generation to generation, I can't tell you which of them is true. But… I think general Nerevar had three councillors, called Lady Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec."

"THE Vivec?", Merlac asked in astonishment.

The barkeeper nodded. "The same, I think. Though he was no god back then."

"Err… how can a normal man become a god?"

"Well, like I said, I don't know. But the rumours say that general Nerevar had a friend named Dagoth Ur, who told Nerevar that the dwemer were building something…something big. And then there is rumours about some heart of something. Anyway, Nerevar didn't belive him, so he made a pilgrimage to the shirne of Azura, a goddess, to seek answer from her. Azura told him that…"

Suddenly, loud clattering steps came from the corridor and a guard walked around the corner. He sat on the nearby table, took of his bonemold helmet and ordered a bottle of sujamma. 

"So, who was the man you were looking for?", asked the barkeeper sounding scared, but smiling.

"Oh… well, I was told to find an imperial called Caius Cosades, ever heard of him?"

"Oh I know old Caius, his house is on the next street towards the hill, north end, you can't miss it. He rarely leaves his house, some people even say he is a bit… well… crackpot, if you know what I mean", said the barkeeper, and winked.

"All right, I think I can find him now. It was nice chatting with you, and thanks"

"Good bye, remember to pop in if you visit Balmora again, outlander."

As Merlac walked outside the bar, he felt uneasy. Why people were forbidden to talk about their history? What happened to the dwemer and the chimer? And who was this Dagoth Ur –guy everybody seem to be talking about? Merlac stopped wandering, as he arrived at the last street before the eastern wall. He walked to the other end of the street and found a small, dusty house with labels Caius Cosades engraved to the door. Merlac was just about to walk up the doorsteps, as the door suddenly opened…


	4. The Spymaster

****

Chapter Four: The Spymaster

"God damn come back you damned cheater!"

An aragornian appeared to the doorway looking scared. Suddenly, a chair flew right past his right ear and smashed to the next building's wall.

"I swear I don't know how those septims got into my pocket, I swe…"

The aragornian bent as an old boot flew through the point where his head has just been.

"Get out, get out!", a man's voice screamed from inside, and the aragornian partly ran, partly

jumped around the corner, playing cards dropping from his pockets. A shirtless man, with some grey hairs in his head, shook his fist in the doorway. The man spit to the ground and disappeared back inside.

Merlac stared at the aragornian until this had disappeared behind the nearby building, and then walked to the door. He was just about to knock on the open door as the man inside yelled again.

"Didn't I make myself clear? Get the hell out of my house!", the man yelled, took another boot from the floor and was just about to throw it at the door as he noticed Merlac. "Oh, and who are you?", he asked angrily.

"Err… sorry mister, but I'm looking for Caius, and I saw his name on the door and I though…", Merlac stuttered.

"Caius? Caius Cosades?", the man replied and dropped the boot back to the floor.

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"The man you are looking for stands in front of you, now why are you here?", asked the man sounding a bit calmer this time."

"I…well I don't know actually, they told me in the census and excise office to find you so…"

Suddenly, the man's appearance changed totally. He looked first confused, but then he looked like he was about to come and hug Merlac. Then he came a actually did it. Merlac wasn't able to do anything else than clumsily tap the man to his shoulder while this hugged him like an old friend. Finally the man released Merlac and took a step backwards.

"Oh it's so great you're here, you must be Merlac."

"Yeah, that's me, but… hey! How did you know my name? I just made it up some hours ago!", said Merlac, who was still massaging his aching sides.

"I got a letter from the harbourmaster. He sent it using his educated bird just after you stepped out from the census office.", smiled Caius.

"So, maybe then you can tell me why I was set free and what on earth is going on in here?"

"Oh boy, that's a very long story", said Caius and grinned. "If you're not tired, I can start telling the main parts to you right now."

"No, I'm not tired, but… it's late and I have no idea where I could sleep and I haven't eaten anything since I left the ship and…"

"Yes yes", said Caius laughing. "I know everything about your situation. By the orders of the Emperor, you will serve the Blades under my command and use my bed to sleep, if you want to. I will myself sleep in one of the South Wall Corner Club's rooms, as you wouldn't probably stand that noise."

"Oh…err…what? Here? And that is 'Blades'? Talk to me, I really don't know anything about what's going on in here!"

"Sorry sorry, I forgot", smiled Caius again. Here, take a seat", he said and pointed at the chair in the corner and sat himself to another.

"So… let's start from the beginning. The Blades is a group of people completely loyal to the emperor. The members of the blades are the emperor's eyes and ears outside his palace, like spies. I am the spymaster, the highest ranking officer in blades, and you are here because the Emperor has some plans for you. You will serve under my command and do the tasks I give you, until I decide you are ready to hear what plans we have for you. Like I said, you may sleep in my bed and I will pay for your food and stuff. I will also pay you some salary, as you must buy yourself some weapons, armour and training, maybe even some magic experience. But remember this; The Blades is a extremely hidden group. Officially, we do NOT exist. Don't ask about blades from anybody, because nobody know who we are and where we work. Now, do you have any questions before I continue?"

Merlac's head was full of questions, but on that moment, the first one that came into his head, was… "Umm… you are an officer?", asked Merlac, and took a look around the small room he was in. A small fireplace in the corner, a small bed but still the size of one third of the room, three chairs, one of them broken in front of the house, a small table next to the door, under the only window, and some books scattered all over the room. "You… and officer?", Merlac asked again in disbelief.

"Yep, that is what I am. Or did you believe that the leader of a top secret group would be living in a mansion or something?", asked Caius and grinned.

"So… the Emperor himself, wants me to join these… Blades? May I ask why?", asked Merlac, starting to get the hang of things.

"Yes, you will serve the Emperor in Blades under my command. And like I said, because he has plans for you."

"What plans?"

"I cannot tell you, because we are not sure yet, and we need to make sure you are the one we believe you might be."

"Which is…?"

"I cannot tell you that just yet."

"So you want me to do something without knowing why?"

"Yes, and I would like to remind you that you don't have much of a choice, do you?"

"So you pay my food, provide me place to stay at night and my gear?", asked Merlac.

"I give you place to stay at night, yes, but I only pay for your food as long as you become self-sufficient. You also must pay your gear from your salary."

"Oh well… I guess I have no options then… so what do I do now?"

"Now you sleep, we have a long day tomorrow", replied Caius and grinned.

After he had said that, Caius took his shirt from the table, said 'good night' and walked out of the door, leaving Merlac sitting alone in his new "home". Merlac had no choice, but go to sleep, though he didn't fall asleep in a long time, as several questions teased his thoughts. What are those plans the spymaster is planning for him? What can be so important that the Emperor himself is part of this? It was already past midnight as he felt asleep.

Merlac opened his eyes. It was very dark around him. Colours started blurring in front of him. He wasn't in Caius' house anymore. Suddenly, the ground shook under him and he tried to catch something to hold, but there was nothing else than the floor. The shaking stopped and Merlac found himself sitting on a stone floor. He was on a dark corridor. Suddenly the torches on the corridor's walls caught fire, and Merlac had to screw up his eyes. Few meters ahead of him, the corridor turned out of sight. There was a sound of footsteps. Slowly, the sound came closer, and closer. A long shadow of some big creature rose to the wall and the sound of footsteps became stronger and stronger. Just before the creature appeared from behind the corner, Merlac woke up, sweating strongly. It had been a nightmare, but… it had felt so real, way too real. Few minutes later, Merlac felt asleep again…


	5. Memories from the past

****

Chapter Five: Memories from the past

When Merlac woke up again, it was already almost noon in Balmora. He rose sitting to his bed's edge and yawned strongly. Caius' house looked as messy and small as yesterday, but there was something new on the table. Merlac stood up, walked to the table and found a message written on a piece of paper

__

"Good morning, Merlac. Here is your first payment for serving in the Blades, 400 septims. I will help you spending them usefully while I show you the town. Meet me at the South Wall Corner Club as soon as you wake up, the barkeeper promised to offer us breakfast.

-- Caius"

Merlac grinned, put the paper back to the table and took a small leather bag which had been next to the message. The bag was filled with green coins. Merlac put his shirt on, hung the moneybag into his belt and walked outside to sunny Balmora.

The town couldn't be more different from the one he had arrived last night. All streets were full of people doing their daily routines, children playing and guards patrolling. Most of them were dunmer, the dark-skinned Elven people of the Eastern Empire, also known as the dark elves, but there were also some imperials, orcs and some foreign races walking the streets. The whole town bathed in sunlight and there were merely few short shadows visible.

Merlac passed some dunmer women carrying baskets on their heads as he walked to the South Wall Corner club. One of the women waved to him as he was stepping in to the bar. The atmosphere inside the corner club were also different from what it was yesterday; no more drunken people stumbling around the tables, just few dunmer mothers eating breakfast or lunch with their children. Merlac noticed Caius sitting in the corner with the smiling barkeeper woman. As he walked nearer, they noticed him and greeted.

"Ah, our young sleepyhead. Ready for the big day, eh?", smiled Caius.

"As ready as humanly possible, I think."

The barkeeper returned to the table with third plate, filled with fried meat and eggs on it.

"Thank you, I was starving already", grinned Merlac. "What is this?"

"It's guar-meat and cliff-racer eggs, very popular breakfast in Morrowind.", said the barkeeper. "Sorry by the way that I had to end that conversation yesterday, I couldn't talk while that guard was listening. And about that Caius being a crackpot –thing… that was also a lie…", she said and grinned at Caius. 

"The Blades are better covered if their leader is a public crackbrain, you know", said Caius.

"Oh… yeah… wait a minute, you just said…"

"Don't worry Merlac", Caius calmed him down. "She is a Blades operative herself too, and a skilled assassin."

"Oh? Well… nice to meet you then."

The barkeeper smiled cunningly, and revealed a small, weird-looking, but unquestionably deadly dark red dagger tied around her ankle.

"I have never seen a dagger like that one", marvelled Merlac.

"No wonder you haven't seen, as you can only find these from Morrowind. It's a daedric dagger, picked up myself from outside a shrine in the northern parts of Morrowind few months ago. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"So that is what daedric weapons look like", admired Merlac. "I was told about them by the trader in Seyda Neen. Worth of lot of septims, I heard?"

"You bet they are", said Caius. "She would probably either sell it or use it to decorate his shelves, unless it wasn't so handy in her secondary job." 

The barkeeper winked her eye to Merlac and lowered his skirt again, hiding the dagger.

"Oh, I almost forgot", remembered Merlac suddenly, "could you finish your story you began yesterday, please?"

"Ah, Gaea told me about your little conversation.", said Caius. "I think it's best for me to continue the story, as I don't want you to hear anything that you shouldn't just yet. So where were you when the guard came?"

"I was in the part when general Nerevar met Azura.", replied the barkeeper.

"Ah yes, Azura's shrine", sighed Caius, and leant forward over the table. "So… Azura confirmed what Dagoth Ur had told to general Nerevar, the dwemer were indeed building something big. They were building a new God."

"Err… what? A GOD? You can't just build up a new god out of pieces of metal, can you?", asked Merlac in wonder.

"Well, that is what Nerevar thought as well. The legend says Azura told him that the dwemer had found an ancient and very powerful magical item, called the Heart of Lorkhan. Their scientists, led by engineer Kagrenac, learned how to harness its unlimited powers, and started building a giant machine of some sort, which would have unbelievable magical powers, enough to destroy Azura and other real gods once and for all. Azura also confirmed that this had to be prevented at all costs."

Caius took a short break, thinking what to say next, and then continued.

"Diplomatic methods failed, and the Chimer and the Dwemer went to war once again. The dwemer were well fortified in their huge fort inside the crater of Red Mountain, but general Nerevar's troops tempted the dwarf-armies to open land and fought them there, while general Nerevar, Dagoth Ur and a small group of companions sneaked into the Heart Chamber under the dwemer fort. This is all I know for sure. All I know, is that few hours after they had went inside, the ground shook strongly and ALL dwemer in all corners of Tamriel, disappeared instantly, leaving only small piles of ash behind them. I'm not sure if anybody know what happened to them, but nobody has seen then since that day. 

Some time later, general Nerevar alone came out of the mountain. He told Vivec that Kagrenac had used his special artefact, called the Kagrenac's tools and all the dwemer had disappeared. Dagoth Ur had stayed in the Hearth Chamber to guard the tools. The councillors Vivec and Almalexia agreed that the tools must be secured and brought to further studying. But when they returned to the heart chamber, something had changed. Something had happened to Dagoth Ur. He refused to give Vivec the tools, telling him that they were dangerous. Vivec had no choice but to capture them by force. Dagoth Ur and some of his followers were able to escape deeper into the mountain, while Vivec took the tools to Sotha Sil in his Clockwork city somewhere far away for studying.

The people of Morrowind celebrated several days because of the long-waited peace in province, until something unexpected happened. The three councillors, Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil announced that they had been given the powers of gods, and that they would now start ruling Morrowind with hand of just as the Tribunal temple, and protect the people from possible threats in the future. People rejoiced even more. But during the night of that day, something unbelievable happened again. All chimer people in Morrowind turned into Dunmer, their skins turned from light yellow into the colours of ash and their eyes into colours of fire. During time, the chimer accepted this change, and peace came to Morrowind at last. Sotha Sil returned to his clockwork city and haven't been seen by any mortals since that day. Almalexia rules the temple in his chapel, situated in Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind in the mainland of Tamriel. Lord Vivec lives in his hall in Vivec, here in Vvardenfell, but also he has spent less and less time among the mortals."

"And what happened then?", asked Merlac anxiously.

"Nothing", answered Caius. "Nothing has changed after that. That is what happened and that is where we are now."

After he had said that, Caius leant back and stared at the roof looking tired.

"So where did Dagoth Ur go then?", pressured Merlac.

"Nobody knows. Lord Vivec suspects he is still living somewhere deep under Red Mountain, but nobody can be sure. But anyway, we shouldn't have stayed here this long, we have a lot of things to do today", said Caius and stood up suddenly. He threw some septims to the table and nodded to the barkeeper. "Keep the change, Gaea. I'm sorry but now I must take this young man to a city-tour", he said and grinned.


	6. Balmora

****

Chapter Six: Balmora

As Caius and Merlac were walking across the bridge to the other side of the town, Caius gave a laugh.

"Oh boy, this is Balmora, my friend. Though Balmora is not the biggest city in Vvardenfell and not even a harbour city, this town might be the centre of trade and travelling on this island. As you saw yesterday, we have a silt strider service in here", Caius said while pointing at the huge insect and waving to the caravaner as they walked past the city gates. "Silt strider is the most common way of travelling, after your own feet of course. Only about half dozen cities in Vvardenfell have a silt strider standing next to their walls, so were very lucky to have one here."

"If only few cities have a silt strider, does that mean we have to walk to everywhere else?", asked Merlac.

"No no, we have other ways of transportaion as well. Between coast cities, you may travel by boats. The fishermen usually ask for same size of payment as the caravaners for taking you to the next city. While travelling between inland cities, the fastest way is to ask a mage in local mage's guild to magically transport you to another mage's guild. The journey is almost instant, and magicians usually take very low payments."

"Mage's guild?", repeated Merlac.

"There are numerous guilds of groups here in Morrowind. One of them, magically orientated of course, is the Mage's guild, like here in Balmora. This is their house.", said Caius, pointing at a two-storey building next to them. "I suggest that as part of your training, you should try to join the guild as an apprentice, and maybe during some time, learn some spells yourself too. I'm sure you will find different sorts of spells very useful while you do the tasks I give you", Caius grinned. "This identical building next to the Mage's guild, is the Balmora's Fighter's guild, and that is where we are going next, because I believe a good friend of mine might be able to help me in few things, so after you let's ste…."

Suddenly, somebody grabbed Merlac from his shoulder, turned him around by force and rose him high above the ground with one bare hand. It was a huge, two-meters-long orc with big yellow teeth who squeezed Merlac's throat so that he was barely able to breath. All this happened so fast that Merlac hadn't had the time even to open his mouth before he was already hanging in the air.

"Again, a new outlander in our beautiful town! You come here and believe you belong here, you come and think your pathetic worm-like imperial race is better than the others! Would you like to see how you speak after I have ripped off your jaw, huh? DO YOU!", the orc bellowed.

Suddenly, the Mage's guild's door opened, and a blond half-elvish woman rushed out. She walked straight to the orc and rose his right hand. She looked the orc with furious eyes, as his hand started to glow blue. Her fingers sparkled and the air around her crackled as she pointed at the orc with her hand and spoke with anger in her voice.

"Let him go, Gargoull, let him go NOW!", she screamed.

"Not until he apologies, leaves our town and never returns!", the orc bellowed.

The wizard's hand sparkled even more as her hand caught fire and started burning with big, bright blue flames.

"Let him down!", she said again with controlled fury and determination in her voice.

"No! Leave us, you wench, this is not your busin…"

Before the orc was able to finish his clause, a huge blue fireball flew from the wizard's hand and struck the orc's chest with enormous power. Gargoull's body flew across the street and hit the opposite building's wall.

"Is he… is he dead?", asked Merlac, as Caius helped him to stood up.

"No, just stunned. We Mage's guild's wizards are not allowed to use deadly spells without being threatened, or unless our jobs require it.", said the half-elf with calm voice.

"Thanks, thanks a lot, I bet I will never learn how to cast spells of that magnitude", worried Merlac.

"It's not really that hard, if you're dedicated enough you will eventually learn almost any spell at all. My name is Galbedir by the way", the half-elf introduced herself.

"How do you do, Galberdir, and thanks again for saving my skin back there", grinned Merlac.

"Don't mention it, old Gargoull is nearly always in flin-drunkennes and asking for trouble. But now I must excuse myself, I was just enchanting a pair of boots for a customer as I saw you from the window. If you're interested, you should come and talk to Ranis Athrys, he might let you join the guild."

"Thanks, we put that in mind", said Caius. "Merlac will pop in later today, but first we must visit the building next door."

"Oh, you mean the fighter's guild… those fools who believe that a long, sharp sword is the answer to everything… oh well, duty calls, see you later.", said Galberdir and walked back inside, leaving Caius and Merlac watching as two guards dragged still unconscious Gargoull away.

"So what are we doing in the fighter's guild?", asked Merlac as they walked up the guild's stairs and knocked at the door.

"Like I said, I'll have to ask for help from a good friend of mine, Hasphat Antabolis."

At that point, a long, beautiful woman came and opened the door. She was dressed in a shining yellow bonemold armour set and she carried a sharp-looking sword with silvery hilt in her belt. Whe she saw Caius, her smile stiffened a bit.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want, old man?", the woman said.

"Ah, Merlac, I'd like you to meet Eydis Fire-Eye, the guild master of Balmora's Fighter's guild.", said Caius. "We're here to meet Hasphat, is he around?"

The woman stared at Caius few seconds looking a bit annoyed, but made way eventually.

"He's downstairs.", said Eydis.

"Oh, and I have another request as well.", remembered Caius. "Could you take Merlac as your apprentice, teach him the skills of basic combat and stuff, he's new in here and those skills will be useful for him."

Before Merlac could even say a word, Eydis grabbed his jaw and turned his head from direction to another.

"He's a skinny one, are you sure he learns anything?"

"Hey! I'm not sk…", said Merlac but Caius interrupted him.

"I'm sure he will do fine. He will pay for his own armour and weapons, so do we have a deal?"

The woman looked at Merlac lazily, and then nodded her head.

"Very well", she said. "I will train him, but I doubt he will become a good fighter or anything."

"Excellent, it is settled then. Now let's go and see Hashat", said Caius, smiling widely.

Caius and Merlac walked downstairs, meeting several guild's members on the way. Most of them greeted Caius friendly, but some of them just stared at him, looking annoyed. Soon they reached the bottom floor and came to a big room, evidently training room, as there were some wooden dolls standing next to the wall, and some of them had target-signs painted in their chests. In the middle of the floor, were a long-haired man and an orc with with big mustards, fighting each other. The man had an iron imperial shortsword and the orc was fighting with a weird-looking tanto. The man's gauntlets clattered against his imperial silver cuirass, as he repelled orc's furious attacks. 

As Caius and Merlac stepped inside the room, the orc took a short look at them, but that time was long enough for the man to attack. The man stroke the orc in his stomach with the flat side of his sword and the orc bent and collapsed to the floor and gasped for breath. The man laughed and helped the orc to stand up again and sheathed his sword. The orc laughed as well, walked to the corner and started grinding his sword with a small stone. The man turned to Caius and Merlac.

"Caius, old friend! What can I do for you old buddy?", the man greeted.

"Hasphat, you old man, looks like you haven't lost your edge with swords.", replied Caius and grinned.

"I try to keep on my skills, but well well, who is this young man you brought with you?", said the man and shook hands with Merlac.

"He's Merlac, helps the old man to do his daily tasks", said Caius and winked at Merlac. "But look, I didn't come just to say hello to you, I have real business this time."

"Well let's talk about it then", said the man and guided Caius and Merlac to sit down to a pair of wooden stools. "What can I do for you, old buddy?"

"I was wondering, if you could tell me something about a cult called the Sixth House."

Merlac listened the men carefully, as they started talking.

"Ah… the Sixth House… I have to admit I've heard some worrying facts about it. You and me should have a little talk. But first, I need a bit help, in case you might be able to help…?", Hasphat said suggestively.

"Anything you need, my friend."

"My cousin in Ald'ruhun is looking for a certain item of dwemer origin and I heard that an adventurer saw one in Arkngthand, a dwemer ruin not so far away from here. I was wondering if you could go and pick it up for me?"

"Certainly. Merlac can go and get it while we have a little afternoon talk.", Caius smiled.

"Me? Alone?", said Merlac with suspicion.

"That's right. There is a smith on the other side of the street, go and buy yourself something that protects you in a hand-to-hand combat, just in case. I suggest buying at least gloves, it can be a bit chilly deep under the ground."

Merlac couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was told to go into a ancient dwemer fort with no combat experience or knowledge of spells of any kind. Caius had to be kidding.

"Don't look so terrified", laughed Hasphat. "The box was seen in a room not too deep under the ground level and the dwemer robots usually patrol in deeper levels, guarding the important devices."

"And that should make me feel comfortable? 'Should be' patrolling deeper? I've never been in a combat before, I don't know how to use a sword, which reminds me of that I don't even have one!"

Hasphat looked Merlac a moment, then rose up and walked to the other side of the room. He picked up a short, rusty sword from a wooden stand and threw it to Merlac.

"Here, you may borrow this. Just stick the sharp edge into anyone that either attacks you first or in other way prevents you from taking the box."

The only thing Merlac was able to do was to stare Caius and Hasphat by turns. He looked at the rusty sword in his hand. It wasn't very sharp but it would probably be better than nothing.

"You leave Balmora and walk along the road which leads east, but when you reach the Moonmoth fort, go left instead of right and walk up the hill. There should be a bridge leading to the ruins. Then find a doorway, enter the biggest building and start walking downwards until you find the box. I heard there should be few doors in the entrance hall, leading to right place, so don't continue wandering deeper to the tunnels, or you might get yourself killed or lost in the labyrinths."

"If the guarding robots are patrolling the deeper levels, then why do I need a sword?", asked Merlac, sounding a bit afraid.

"Because bandits or other outlaws usually use the upper levels of ruins and caverns as hideouts. They will try to kill you if you reveal their hideout, of course."

"Great. So how do I recognize this… what do you call it?"

"Dwemer puzzle box. It's a small box made from yellow dwemer metal, and it has some dwemer markings on it. If you find many items that match that description, just bring them all to me.", Hasphat smiled.

"So… I guess I'll leave then… wish me luck?"

The men waved their hands to Merlac shortly and then started talking with each other, and Merlac had no choice but to walk out with his rusty sword.

As soon as Merlac had left the room, Hasphat's appearance became worried. 

"Err… Caius, are you sure about this? You just sent a young kid into a dwemer ruin with nothing but a rusty sword and no skills to use it? Are you trying to get rid of him or something?"

Caius sighed. "Well, if he is the one who I believe he might be, he'll be okay. If he is not… I'm sorry to say this but then he is just an unimportant minor criminal who has lived most of his life in a prison. All we can do now is to wait and hope for best…"


	7. The Dwemer Puzzle Box

****

Chapter Seven: Dwemer puzzle box

Merlac walked outside the fighter's guild, feeling even more worried. He had been in a few hand-to-hand fights in the prison, but he had never used held a sword in his hand before. Merlac walked across the street and entered the smith's house.

The room he walked into was rather small. There were high shelves standing on all walls and they were full of different kinds of pieces of armour and weaponry. As Merlac stepped in, the smith who was polishing an iron cuirass, rose his head and greeted.

"What can I do for you? Weapons? Armour? Speak up kid, I haven't got all day. Well actually I do, but please go on anyway.", the smith said unpatiently.

"Err… hi. I'm looking some cheap armour and my friend told me to come here, can you help me?"

"Cheap armour, eh? Well I guess I can help you, as this is probably the only place where you can buy decent armour. The tradehouse has some as well but they are pieces of crap I tell you. Well what is the armour for? Heavy combat? Magical resistance? Something beautiful what you can wear in a party, or just something to keep you warm?"

"Err…", Merlac muttered again. "I'm quite unexperienced with armour, but I think I need something against bandits or like that."

"Bandits, eh?", the smith laughed. "Here you go, this is what you need when you meet some local bandits."

The smith gave a thin leather shirt and gloves made from a bit thicker leather to Merlac, and laughed again.

"Those will keep you warm for a while and keep you safe from wooden swords. If you encounter bandits that can cast spells, which I doubt, just take my hint and dodge them. No common spell-resistant armour could completely reflect basic attack-spells, so it's best not to spend your money on them and get youself a pair of fast legs instead. Now, that would be 40 septims, imperial."

Merlac left the store with his new 'armour'. He smelled it. The leather shirt stank like rotten guar, which was probably the source of the leather. (Guar is a common mammal in Morrowind, used as domestic animal, but can also be found walking free in the nature.)

Merlac walked through the southern gate feeling more and more depressed. He crossed the river and started walking the path to east, swinging his rusty sword clumsily in the air, trying to learn few basic strikes. After twenty minutes of walking, Merlac reached the Moonmoth imperial fort. It was a group of stone buildings, surrounded by thick stone wall and it stood at the root of the hill. One could see soldiers patrolling the walls and the yard. Merlac followed Hasphat's directions and started walking along the path leading up to the hill, past the fort.

As Merlac walked, the scenery started looking grey. There were hardly any living trees or plants at the top of the hill, mainly just rocks, grey sand and more rocks. Few minutes later, Merlac arrived to a wide metallic bridge leading over deep abyss. It began to rain slowly and Merlac's mood dropped even more.

Just before he stepped to the bridge, his breathe stopped. He had seen something like a bright light behind a pile of rocks not so far away from him. He though he had seen a woman. No, it couldn't be, had to be just imagination. Merlac stared at the place he had seen this light, but he saw nothing. 

"Yeah, just imagination.", Merlac said to himself, but drew out his rusty sword, just in case.

He started walking carefully across the bridge. The bridge squeaked under him, but otherwise it felt extremely durable. There were few large wooden boxes in the halfway of the bridge. Because they weren't covered in sand like the rest of the bridge, Merlac suspected them to be recently brought here. Just before Merlac reached the boxes, a dunmer man stepped forth from behind the boxes.

"Hi there", Merlac greeted, trying not to show that he had nearly wet his pants.

If Merlac had almost wet his pants, this dunmer was almost scared to death. But as soon as he recovered, pure rage appeared on his face. Merlac watched terrified as the dunmer pointed his both hands at him and started muttering scary-sounding words which Merlac had never heard before. He was clearly casting a powerful spell.

Merlac moved back but stumbled to his own legs and fell down. His sword flew from his hand and almost dropped from the edge of the bridge. Suddenly, a bright green flame emerged from the dunmer's hands and was thrown upon Merlac. But it didn't strike him. Halfway in the air, the flame stopped and dissolved. Merlac watched with growing horror, as a skeleton formed from thin air right in front of him. There were a bright flash and a long, sharp-looking two-handed sword appeared on the skeleton's hands.

Merlac was hardly able to dodge, as the skeleton swung his claymore, which stroke at the nearby box, shattering it to pieces like if it had been glass. Merlac grabbed his sword from the edge of the bridge and clumsily repelled skeleton's next hit. The skeleton was just about to strike again, when Merlac with more of his instinct than skill, thrust his sword right through his ribs. The dunmer behind the skeleton laughed.

Then it came into Merlac's mind. What a fool he had been. No normal weapon could hurt daedric or undead creatures, and this skeleton was very much undead. What could he do now? He didn't have any other weapons nor did he know any spells. Should he try to ran away? Just before the skeleton hit again, the laughing dunmer stepped backwards and the bridge under him collapsed. He crashed right through the ancient metallic structure and fell to the abyss screaming. As his body hit the ground, the skeleton he had summoned dissolved into dust as fast as it had appeared, leaving horror-struck Merlac standing alone on the bridge.

Few minutes later, Merlac encouraged himself to continue, and he carefully walked to the other end of the bridge. A thin fog floated around the hills, but one was able to see the silhouettes of large orange buildings of dwemer origin, completely made from the same metal as the bridge. Asymmetric towers and strange domes appeared from the fog as he walked forward, keeping his sword ready. Though this fort was almost the size of Balmora while still consisting of no more than dozen buildings, Merlac knew there had to be gigantic caves and endless corridors beneath the ground.

Merlac followed the road until it ended in front of a dwemer tower. In the building's wall, there was a few meters high hemisphere, which looked like a doorway. Merlac carefully knocked it. It was made from rock, and there were no answer. There had to be a switch or something nearby, that would open the door. Merlac looked around, and soon he noticed a rusty crank in the side of a big statue, presenting some kind of warrior just few meters away from the door. He sheathed his sword, grabbed the crank with his both arms and turned it. It was stuck. Merlac tried again, this time pressing the crank downwards with his full weight, and slowly it started turning creaking. Suddenly a loud clatter came from the tower. Slowly the rock-hemisphere split into two and withdrew to the sides, revealing a small metal door. Merlac laughed at himself happily, but startled as the rock pieces started moving back together. He quickly ran to the door before the rocks met themselves, and stepped through the metal door.

Inside the building, clatter of distant machines filled Merlac's ears. He drew out his sword again and started walking down a rock formation in front of him. After few minutes he arrived to a large cave, filled with pillars and metal structures. The walls of the cave were only half-visible, as the inner walls of the tower prevented the whole place of collapsing. Suddenly Merlac understod what had been disturbing him since he entered the building. As he was under ground, there should have been very dark, but instead the whole room was rather luminous, though there were no torches anywhere. The light-green light seemed to come from strange small objects hanging in the walls, glowing smoothly. As the dwarves had disappeared long time ago, that clattering noise had to come from some kind of self-running machines, providing energy for these mechanical torches and god-knows what other inventions under the tower.

Hasphat had said that it was useless to go deeper under the ground than the first room, as the dwemer puzzle box had been seen in another room nearby. Merlac looked around. There were no doorways or corridors, except the one leading steeply downwards. Merlac started feeling worried, was he in the right building? Should be travel further to the caverns and risk getting lost or killed by those ancient guarding robots?

Once again, the solution found Merlac before he found it himself. A new clattering noise started coming closer from the dark corridor. Merlac quickly hid himself behind a pillar which was luckily nearby. Soon, an orange metallic creature clattered to the room. It looked like a small six-legged spider, made totally from metal and it was hardly bigger than a human head. Merlac stared at it in astonishment, as it slowly walked around the room, clearly following a preset path. Merlac gave a short laugh. This little fellow didn't look scary at all, perhaps a toy of dwemer children or something.

Suddenly, the spider-creature noticed Merlac and stopped. Merlac froze and stared at the creature. The spider suddenly made an incredible metallic noise and jumped towards Merlac. Merlac evaded and watched as a sharp, shining spike stuck out from its shell. The spider started running towards Merlac with his short metallic legs, and just before the spike reached Merlac's leg, he stamped on the spider with his full weight. The rusty metal in the spider's bottom crushed against the stone floor and a slight smell of burning came into Merlac's nose from inanimate spider.

Merlac carefully touched the spider with the tip of his sword, making sure the spider was really dead. It was. He felt much more confident after his first victory over ancient dwemer security devices, and his mood improved even more as he rose his look. Near the roof of the cave, was a small metal door, which could not be seen from the main door. Merlac looked for stairs, but there was only a stone formation leading up to the door. He had no choice but to climb there.

After few sweaty minutes, Merlac reached the door. Feeling still confident after his previous combat, he rushed straight through the door just to be slashed with a dagger.

Merlac jumped sidewards and the dagger only cut a small slash in his elbow. The dunmer who was holding the dagger didn't hesitate but yelled and slashed again, this time trying to hit Merlac in his throat. This time Merlac had more time to prepare and he evaded the blade. With more instinct than skill, Merlac kicked the dunmer straight into his stomach. The dunmer yelped in pain and crashed against a wooden shelf behind him. The shelf cracked and fell over the man. A small brown clay pot crashed to the dunmer's head and Merlac watched in horror as the yellow liquid inside it literally scorched through the dunmer's flesh. After few seconds, the dunmer stopped screaming and just lay in the floor, while the smell of burnt flesh filled the room.

It took few minutes for Merlac to stop shaking, but after that he noticed he had arrived to a small room with few dusty shelves next to the walls and few new boxes in the corner, full of spices. This dead dunmer was clearly the companion of the other man in the bridge, both smugglers.

Merlac let his glance wander around the small room, looking the strange small objects in the shelves. And then he saw it. A small metallic cube, standing on a bottom shelf. It was hardly bigger than a child's fist, but something in Merlac's mind told him that object had the be the puzzle box he had been looking for. Feeling relieved, Merlac took the box, put it into his pocket and returned to Balmora, his new home…


	8. Learning Curve

****

Chapter Eight: Learning curve

Balmora started feeling like home for Merlac very quickly, as it was the best home he had ever been in. Months passed and he gained experience while serving under Caius's command in Blades. Merlac's tasks were mostly about travelling back and forth between nearby villages and towns, meeting Caius's friends and Blades operatives, asking them about The Sixth House Cult and related stuff. After few weeks Merac got bored of asking Caius where he needed this information and accepted his master's daily answer; "I'm just curious so I'm doing some background research, that's all."

Always when Merlac was over night in Balmora, he spent hours and hours practising his combat skills in Fighter's guild with Hasphat and Fire-eye. After some uncertainty in using the sword, Merlac kept surprising his new friends with his ability to handle swords, staffs and even long-bladed claymores. With the money Caius had paid for him during his service, Merlac had finally been able to buy himself a decent sword of his own; a medium-lenght sword, made from achient elven metal-alloys. It shined light-blue like sky itself, as light reflected from its sharp blade. The sword had been just another rusty piece of crap Merlac had bought from local trader, but after days of hard work and grinding one could finally see his reflection from the blade.

From time to time Caius still kept wondering how lucky Merlac had been when he killed the two smugglers in Arkngthand fort. The other had crashed through ancient dwemer-made metal bridge, that had endured several centuries and the other died because a pot of strong magical acid had crashed into his head. Neither of them died because of Merlac's sword. The thing that made Merlac feel nervous, was the thing he had seen in the hills of Arkngthand; the woman in white clothing. That day, Merlac was sure he had seen just a vision, but he was quite sure he had seen the same woman appear again and again, always just before he met some kind of danger. 

Last time was when Merlac was investigating a tomb near a big lake, east of Balmora. He had been just about to enter the tomb to search for certain skull for a Mage's guild's member's alchemy-purposes, as he saw the woman standing on the other side of the bay. As soon as Merlac blinked his eyes, the vision was gone again. Half an hour later Merlac ran out of the tomb, carrying a dusty skull, while fighting with his left shoe, which had been cursed by an ancestor-ghost, guarding the tomb. It took two days for Balmora's magicians to anti-curse the shoe again, so it stopped biting Merlac's foot. Merlac started feeling this woman-vision had to be some kind of omen for danger.

Though Merlac was an extremely devoted swordsman and he had already gained quite an amount of experience of tight situations during his Blades-tasks, there was still one thing troubling his mind daily. He was member of Balmora's Mage's guild, but complicate spells were taught only to high ranked members, and advancing in the guild did not occur by magic, it needed time and effort. Merlac was just an errand boy whose main job was to clean potion bottles and travel back and forth in swamps, collecting stupid mushrooms. All this tensed Merlac's patience, but his masters kept telling him that in time, his devotion would be rewarded.

One evening, Merlac had a night off. He was spending his time sitting and drinking in the South Wall Corner club, and then happened something that really made him fight against temptations. Merlac was sitting in his usual table in the corner, as a stranger sat the chair next to him. Merlac rose his look and stared at the stranger. He was an old dunmer male, dressed in blood-red robe.

"What do you want?", asked Merlac sounding tired.

"Greetings, young Merlac.", the stranger greeted.

"How do you know my name?", said Merlac sounding a bit more interested.

"I know much about you. Let me introduce myself, my name is Ahuma of Grandorl. I'm a highly trained Telvanni wizard."

"Telvanni? One of the three great houses in Morrowind?"

"The same, my young friend.", the wizard hissed sounding pleased. "The House Telvanni studies the arts of magic and ancient spells. We teach our apprentices strong spells and how to cast undead creatures from oblivion, while the moral fools in Mage's guild spend their time collecting plants, meditating and writing poems."

"Tell me about it, that is exactly what I've been doing last few months", Merlac said feeling bitter.

"I know. We have been following your journeys and noticed great potential in you. With right methods of teaching, what a great magician you would become."

"You would teach me how to cast spells?"

"I would teach you to do things you have never dreamed of, and that is just the beginning.", the dunmer chuckled.

"But… I believe I can't be member of both Mage's guild and Telvanni, can I?"

"Of course not, we Telvanni despise the Mage's guild. I have talked to my grandmaster about you and he agrees you should join us. This is an one-time-offer, so what do you decide, my young apprentice?"

This was it. This stranger was offering Merlac to become a real wizard, instead of doing crap jobs in the Mage's guild. Merlac imagined himself standing on a hill, holding the grandmaster's staff, exploding things with his bare thoughts. Merlac was just about to make his decision, as the bar's door was thrown open and an angry, long dunmer wizard rushed in. He was Ranis Athrys, the local master-wizard of Balmora's Mage's guild. As soon as his look turned to the table where Merlac and the Telvanni wizard were sitting, pure rage appeared on his face.

"YOU!", Ranis roared, and walked closer with his long dark-blue robe fluttering.

The Telvanni wizard stood up, facing Ranis with enormous amount of despise in his face.

"Yes, me. You ran here tail between your legs to rescue your little apprentice from the evil wizards, did you? Let me tell you something. Telvanni is tired of standing aside and watching while you fools waste the talents of young wizards with great potential, like Merlac."

"Telvanni values are unethical and your methods insult the ways of Azura!"

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it, you caricature of a wizard?"

Merlac stood up terrified, as he saw Ranis's palms begin to glow red. At the same time, the Telvanni wizard started muttering daedric words, as the wooden staff in his hand sparkled orange.

"Back off, you're not welcome to Balmora, filthy Telvanni!"

"Balmora was once under Telvanni rule, and so shall it become again, but you won't be here to see it!"

Other people in the bar quickly abandoned their drinks and rushed out of the room, and the barkeeper woman's face paled and the woman kneeled behind the bar-table. Merlac was left alone with the two raging wizards. Ahuma touched one of his nine rings and almost instantly the air was filled with cracking sounds. Six other Telvanni dunmer wizards appeared from thin air to his sides, all pointing their glowing hands and staffs at Ranis. But Ranis's face did not change at all.

"So this is the way you fight in Telvanni, seven versus one. You cowards!", he spat.

Merlac did nothing but admired the fearless way Ranis opposed Telvanni wizards against overwhelming odds. He had made his decision.

"Ahuma!", Merlac yelled and stood right between Ranis's hand and Ahuma's staff. "I've made my decision, and I stay in Balmora!"

Ahuma stared Merlac in disbelief and the look on his face turned even more raging.

"Then you are a fool like the ones you follow. And with them you shall be destroyed! You die alone!" 

"He's not alone!", said a voice from the door. All three looked at the speaker. It was Caius.

Caius stood next to the doorway, smiling defiantly, as four Mage's guild's wizards walked in and stopped standing to both sides of Ranis and Merlac. One of them was Galbedir, the female elf who had rescued Merlac from the drunken orc months ago, and three other magicians. The rage in Ahuma's face went even deeper.

"You are still outnumbered and if my feelings are correct, your followers know hardly any lethal spells, even if they were allowed to use them.", he laughed.

"There are other kinds of spells you Telvanni seem to ignore.", Ranis said calmly.

Without further warning, the Telvanni wizards roared and huge flames of strong spells emerged from their hands and staffs. The underground room echoed from explosions the spells caused and tables and bottles exploded to pieces as several curses flew through the air. But the guild-wizards were faster. Ranis tore his robe open and touched a golden amulet hanging around his neck. All four other wizards did the same. Caius jumped behind a nearbly table and pulled Merlac with him.

As the fatal spells of the Telvanni struck the guild-wizards, a huge golden shield appeared between the spells and Ranis. It looked like an enormous sparkling air-wall which stopped all spells which struck it. The bright flames rebounded all over the room, breaking almost everything to pieces, as the Telvanni took cover in panic.

"Stunning spells, now!", screamed Ranis.

Instantly the shield vanished as fast as it had appeared and air was again full of spells, this time light blue stunning spells of the guild-wizards. Merlac and Caius watched behind the still smoking table, as the spells hit their targets and all seven Telvanni wizards fell unconscious to the floor. Silence surrounded everything and the guild-wizards put their hands back inside their robe's pockets. 

Merlac looked around. The view was unbelievable. Everything inside the underground bar-room was destroyed. Wooden pieces of tables and chairs were scattered all over the room, some of them still burning or smoking quietly. The floor was almost covered in liquor and drinks, as hundreds of sujamma- and flin-bottles had exploded behind the bar-counter. One wooden boulder in the corner had also been destroyed and pile of mould and sand had collapsed to the floor. Smell of burning floated around the room.

Suddenly, one more loud crack flashed in the middle of the room and one more Telvanni wizard appeared. Clearly, this one was very very old, and he walked supported by his wooden staff. He looked around and sighed.

"Merlac", Ranis said. "I want you to meet the grandmaster of the Telvanni".

The old man sighed again. 

"These idiots have brought disgrace to Telvanni house once again.", the old man said sounding tired. "Wake up you fools."

The old wizard pointed his finger at the unconscious Telvannis and suddenly they all opened their eyes, looking totally confused.

"Leave you idiots, I will take care of this.", the old man said. Merlac feared it would become another fight, but as the seven wizards had disappeared with cracking sounds, the grandmaster spoke again.

"This is very shameful, I thought my own son would be wiser. This one time, I apologise."

"An apology is not needed.", said Ranis. I just hope we could co-exist with better relations with each other."

"That is something which will probably never happen, my old rival."

Without more words, the old man disappeared in a crack.

The barkeeper appeared at the doorway.

"Oh no! My bar, oh my beautiful little bar! Look at what you did!"

Ranis wrapped his sleeves again rose his hands. Merlac watched in astonishment as the pieces of wood piled themselves in the middle of the room, the boulder literally grew back where it had been and the liquor dried itself from the floor. 

"I'm sorry about your bar", said Ranis to the barkeeper woman. "Two of mage's guild's wizards will help you to repair the room this night."

Suddenly, Merlac noticed something weird. How had the barkeeper appeared at the doorway? Last time Merlac saw her, she had been covering herself under the bar table.

"That Almsivi for this.", said the barkeeper to Merlac, as she noticed the look on his face. I always keep a recall-amulet with me in case of this kind of troubles. It teleported me straight to nearest temple, which is luckily here in Balmora, and from there I ran to seek help from the mage's guild."

As Galbedir and one other female wizard started helping the barkeeper repairing things, and the others left the room, Ranis turned to Merlac.

"I think I owe you an explanation. Please, walk with me to the river."

As they stepped outside the cornerclub, Ranis continued. 

"In mage's guild, every wizard must serve as an apprentice as long as his devotion to the guild is uncertain. Some require more time than others, some don't prove their devotion at all. You did this by choosing to stay in the guild, while tempted by the Telvanni recruiter. You have been a diligent student, young Merlac.", Ranis said. "I think it's time for you to hold the rank of young conjurer."

Merlac stopped walking. 

"Really?", asked Merlac in astonishment.

"I'm absolutely certain about it. But tell me, are you tired?"

"Err… no, I'm not. Why?"

Ranis looked up. The red big moon had just started rising to the night sky of Vvardenfell. Except few torches, the town was rather dark.

"I think it's a good time to start your real training, my young conjurer. I will teach you myself. Please, follow me."

Merlac's mind rejoiced. This was it, Ranis was going to teach him real magic, not just how to collect mushrooms. He followed the wizard outside the town walls and down to the river. Ranis stopped at the bank of the river, where water was shallow, hardly to Merlac's knees. Ranis turned to Merlac and spoke.

"Before you are ready for spells of destruction, you must first learn to alter the nature itself. You already master the skills of alchemy quite well, and unlike some people think, it is one of the major disciplines of magic. The others are for example; destruction, which includes harming living creatures and non-living objects and restoration, which includes magical travelling, moving objects, telekinesis, and that sort of things. The thing you must learn first, is alteration of nature and yourself."

"What sort of alteration?", asked Merlac, sounding worried.

"I will show you, but first, we need some light."

Ranis waved his hand, and some rocks at both sides of the river started glowing, spreading light all over them.

"Now Merlac, observe me."

He walked to the water line, said two words in daedric language, waved his hand again, and walked to the water. Or that was what Merlac first thought, but as he looked at Ranis's legs, he notices that Ranis was actually walking _above _the water. Ranis slowly walked to the middle of the river, his shoes hardly touching the water, and then turned facing Merlac again and smiled.

"Now, if you have any items that you don't want to get wet, take them off and then come here, but be warned; nobody succeeds the first time, so be patient."

Merlac walked to the water line and took a deep breath. As he started pronouncing the ancient words, he noticed that his voice was hissing and it echoed around him much louder than he had said it. Merlac was a bit scared, as he hadn't heard any hissing or echoing while Ranis had spoke. He felt even more terrified as he noticed Ranis's face; he stared Merlac like he had just seen something terrible, which was worrying Merlac as Ranis was a very experienced wizard and almost two hundred years older than Merlac.

Merlac stepped carefully foward, expecting his shoe to go under water, but he was mistaken. Ranis stared in disbelief as Merlac took two more steps and then with a bit more courage, walked to Ranis, without touching the water even once. It felt like if he had been walking on a path of pillows, but as Merlac looked down, he saw himself standing in the air about one inch above the water, twice as high as Ranis. Ranis kept staring as Merlac stopped in front of him. 

"I… I don't believe it.", Ranis was able to say. "I have taught young wizards in the arts of magic for one and a half centuries, and I have never, _never_ seen anyone walking on water on their first try. It took me two whole weeks to learn it myself!"

Merlac did not know what to say, he couldn't understand what he had done. There had to be some kind of trick, he had never done any real magic, it had to be a trick.

"What now?", asked Merlac, sounding a bit nervous.

"Now we must quickly try what else you can do, because if you can… this is very unexpected. Quick, follow me back to the steady ground."

Once back off water, Ranis spoke daedric again.

"Now, say that after me and then imagine an invisible staircase leading to that three, and then walk there."

"Err… walk to the three?"

"Yes, do it now please."

Merlac opened his mouth to start speaking, but before he could say even the first daedric word, his feet rose from the ground, and he slowly floated upwards, then towards the three, and landed softly to the biggest branch. Normally Merlac would have been terrified when rising above the ground, but this time he some how _felt_ more than knew, that he was actually levitating himself, and he had a total control over his body.

Ranis stood in the ground and stared with his mouth open, and then began to smile widely.

"It is great you chose to stay in the mage's guild, my friend. If my feelings are correct, you will have a glorious future ahead of you as a wizard." 

Merlac grinned to Ranis from the three.


	9. Vivec

****

Chapter Nine: Vivec

Excited about his new skills, Merlac spent following days practising different kinds of spells from the area of alteration with Ranis and Galdbedir. Though Caius seemed a bit frustrated because Merlac was not able to perform any Blades tasks while practising so diligently, he was very interested in following Merlac as he became more and more advanced in the arts of magic. However, one week after the incident at the South Wall Corner club, Ranis was forced to travel to city of Vivec for orders from the guildmaster Trebonius. Merlac guessed Caius would use this opportunity to send him to another in-the-middle-of-nowhere-journey. 

"Ah, there you are!", greeted Caius as he noticed Merlac coming out of the mage's guild's door.

"Let me guess, master, I'm going to travel somewhere…again?", asked Merlac sounding very much sarcastic.

"I'm surprised by your observation skills", grinned Caius back "I need you to contact three informats, who might…"

"…have valuable information about the Sixth House Cult the Nerevar prophecy.", Merlac finished Caius's clause.

"Exactly, now you must…"

"Tell me something, master", interrupted Merlac again. "when are you going to tell me where do you need all this stuff? I've traveller all around Vvardenfell, collecting pieces of information about this cult, and still I know nothing about it myself, as I'm not allowed to read the packets the informants send you!"

Caius sighed.

"I'm sorry, my young friend, but Lord Vivec has prohibit me from telling you anything just yet."

"These things about the cult have something to do with _me_?"

"Err… damn, I should not have said that.", moaned Caius. "Oh well… is it ok with you if I tell you when you're back from this assignment? I'd like to make sure few things before worrying you too much."

"Well… all right, but you promised, as soon as I'm back from this assignment. Now… what is it?"

"I'm sending you to Vivec to meet three Blades informants."

"Vivec? I'm going to see _the_ Vivec?", wondered Merlac.

"Oh my no", grinned Caius. "I mean the _city_ of Vivec. Though it is quite a view as well."

"When do you want me to leave?", asked Merlac.

"As soon as you're ready. I arranged with the Balmora's mage's guild that they will magically transport you there, so put on your basic gear and head back to the guild.", smiled Caius and pointed at the building Merlac had just come out from. "Here is piece of paper, I've written the names of the informants and places where you are supposed to meet them, so don't let this paper get into wrong hands."

"Yeah yeah I won't, master."

"And one more piece of warning; Vivec might be friendly and civilised city, but its huge size makes it ideal place for numerous types of criminality, and a perfect place for big bad guys to hide in, so be careful and stay in the main corridors, as they are patrolled by Ordinators."

"Ordinators?"

"They guard the law, just like the Hlaalu guards in here, but the ordinators guard the city of Lord Vivec and they are the extreme elite, so don't mess with them."

"Yes master, I won't."

"And don't get lost in there!", yelled Caius after him, but Merlac had already ran inside the mage's guild.

Inside the mage's guild, Merlac walked down the stairs, greeting the wizards on the way. As he reached the bottom floor, Merlac had no choice but to laugh himself as well.

"Friend Merlac did not manage to live five minutes without friend Ajira, no?", purred tiger-look-a-like female humanoid, who had notice Merlac. 

"Yeah, I missed you so much I had to come back right away.", grinned Merlac.

This Khajjir had become Merlac's good friend during his membership in the Balmora's mage's guild. Ajirra was probably the best alchemist at this side of Red Mountain, and Merlac proud to have her as his teacher. 

"Ajirra is only kidding, master Caius told about your journey this morning, but Ajirra did not believe friend Merlac would leave so soon."

"I didn't believe it either, but here I am, so what do I do now?"

"Friend Merlac follows Ajirra please.", the Khajjir purred and walked to the next room, closely followed by Merlac.

The room Ajirra led Merlac was rather small. In the corner was an about two meters wide stage and a long, beautiful elf woman standing next to it.

"Here we are now, friend Merlac. Ajirra must leave now, Ajirra must sort out six baskets of mushrooms today.", said the khajjir and wobbled out of the word.

"Hi Merlac, to Vivec it is then, right?", said the elf.

"Yeah, but…"

"Oh you have never travelled using magic before? Well it's quite easy and completely painless, so don't be worried at all. Just walk up to the stage and stand still."

Merlac climbed to the rock stage, turned to face the wizard and waited.

"Now, close your eyes and when you open them, you will be in the Vivec's mage's guild. Have a nice journey, young conjurer."

As Merlac closed his eyes, the elf woman waved his both hands in wide curve. Merlac felt his body to itch a bit, but nothing else. After few seconds, he was still standing on the rock stage, had something gone wrong? A new voice talked in front of him.

"Well? Are you going to stand there forever? I have a transportation of three wizards coming from Ald'ruhun any second now so get yourself away from there.", said an unknown female voice.

Slowly, Merlac opened his eyes and looked around. He wasn't in Balmora anymore. He was standing on a similar rock stage where he had been few seconds ago, but the room was different. It was a rock hall, about the same size as the whole mage's guild's building in Balmora.

The woman next to Merlac impatiently pulled him down from the stage, and almost the same moment three old dunmer wizards appeared with loud crack where Merlac had just been standing. The wizards opened their eyes, stepped down from the stage as well, greeted the transportation-woman and walked pass Merlac.

"Is this Vivec?", asked Merlac from the woman. 

"No, this is the lavatory of Lord Vivec himself, yes this is Vivec's mage's guild. Now get going, I have lots of work to do."

Merlac stepped away from the woman and left her with her own business. He looked around. The magic-transportation-stage seemed to be in the second floor of the hall, in a balcony, but as there were no windows it was impossible to say how deep under or how high above the ground it was. As Merlac leant over the balcony and looked down, he saw a bald, happy-looking man standing bravely few meters below the second floor. According to his pretentious robe and behaviour, Merlac suspected the man to be some kind of high-ranked wizard.

Merlac walked down a huge staircase and stopped for a second. All over him were numerous wizards doing their daily tasks, sitting behind their desks, or meditating in their quiet corners. Merlac encouraged himself, tapped the nearest wizard on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help me out a bit?", asked Merlac politely.

The wizard dressed in bright green robe turned around and looked at Merlac with disgust in his face.

"What are you doing here? This is a mage's guild, not a ancestor tomb, so go find something to loot from somewhere else, will you?"

"Err… oh… sorry, could please show me the way out then? I was just magically teleported here and I don't know where the door is and…"

"Teleported? Magically?", the man asked with disbelief in his voice. "You mean you just came from another mage's guild?"

"Well… I suppose so…", replied Merlac a bit frightened.

To Merlac's surprise, the wizard burst into laugh.

"I am really sorry young man, I though you were one of those dirty fighters who come here and ask for dangerous jobs, but cant even light a candle without a torch. I didn't realise you are a mage yourself too. So you've never been in Vivec before? Well of course I can help you. Which mage's guild did you come from?"

"Ba..Balmora", Merlac stuttered.

"Ah Balmora, nice town, been there few times while I was an apprentice, maybe I should visit there again sometimes soon. But enough about me, you needed some help, right?"

"Yeah, if it's not too much of trouble."

"Not at all, I'm not currently doing anything important… oh well, the guildmaster Trebonius gave me some jobs to do but… between you and me, he is a _total_ crackpot."

"Err… the guild master? But… if he is a… then how can he be the guild master?"

"If it were up to me, he wouldn't be. I guess his power has gone into his head. All he does these days is stands there, looking powerful and delegating ridiculous tasks to everyone who comes within 5 feets. Just few minutes he gave a 'small job' which I should take care of before tomorrow. He wants me to find out _precisely_ what happened to the dwarves.", the wizard said with slight despair in his voice.

Merlac didn't know what to say, so he decided to change topic instead.

"Err… I'm sorry but I'm in a sort of a hurry, so…"

"Ah, of course, my mistake. So you wanted to get out of here?", he grinned. "It's easy, though this guild might look like a maze in the first look. So, go back up those stairs, turn right and go to the end of the corridor until you reach another corridor in your right leading upwards. Soon, there should be a doorway on your right, leading to guild's vestibule. You go through the vestibule and you find yourself from the foreign quarter's indoor plaza."

"Umm… stairs up, right, end of the corridor, right, up, right, though the room and I find myself from… what?"

"Vivec is divided into several cantons, connected by short bridges. Each canton is built on water, and the most bottom floor is a… well… a sewer. After are the lower and upper waistworks, which contain some basic services for the poor people, like small bazaars and bars. Then comes the plaza-floor, which is the centre of a canton, containing better-equipped services, guilds and some small manors."

"Good to know, thanks. By the way, Lord Vivec lives in this town, doesn't he? Is he in a manor or…?"

"Oh no no", grinned the wizard. "After the southernmost canton is the temple island, containing of course the temple, ministry of truth and ministry of wisdom. Lord Vivec's personal palace is on it's own island behind the temple island."

Suddenly, the wizard was interrupted. The bald man Merlac had seen from the balcony had arrived next to Merlac.

"Rubeus, did you find out what happened to the dwemer, did you?", the bald man asked. Merlac guessed this had to be the guild master Trebonius himself. The wizard had been right, Trebonius _was_ a crackpot.

"Err… thanks for your help, I think I find my way out now.", said Merlac quickly, leaving the man standing with suffering look with the guild master, who just kept smiling.

Few minutes later Merlac stepped out of the mage's guild to the foreign quarter plaza. It was a gigantic hall with small stone buildings in it and all over him were swarming busy people. Dunmer, imperials, orcs, bosmer, and some races Merlac hadn't even seen before. Without a warning, something hit him hard and Merlac fell down, almost breaking his elbow.

Merlac quickly rose back up, keeping his hand on his sword's handle, but didn't pull it out from the sheath. He didn't see anything. What had hit him? Merlac looked around but the people nearby just continued walking around and ignoring him. Suddenly somebody talked just next to his legs.

"Oh my head", a man's voice moaned. 

Merlac looked down but didn't see anything but the rock floor. 

"Err… hello?", Merlac asked carefully.

"Oh it hurts, damn." The voice said. "Oh I'm really sorry, I shouldn't walk around while looking to other direction."

Merlac was confused, where the speaker was?

"Umm… where are you?", he asked. 

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. I'm invisible."

"Err… o-kay?"

"No, really. I had a small accident with a potion I was making. I was trying to make a potion that would make me stronger, but I guess I added too many vampire teeth."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, the effect will go by with time, but thanks."

After the invisible man had said this, Merlac heard footsteps going past him and because nobody talked to him anymore, he suspected that the man had left. Merlac drove out the paper Caius had given him. The first contact was someone called Huleeya in the foreign quarter waisworks. 

"Well, at least I'm on the correct canton", Merlac grinned to himself. "Excuse me, but how can I get myself to the waisworks?", he asked from a woman walking past him. The woman stopped and looked Merlac from top to bottom.

"You can't go there from here, you must go outside the plaza, then follow the outdoor corridors downwards until you reach the waistworks doors."

"Oh, ok, thanks."

The woman nodded fast and left. Merlac walked through the gigantic doors of the plaza to open air. He stepped down the few steps in front of the doors and looked around. He was able to see most of the Vivec from there, though there were many taller buildings in the way. All around him, stood incredibly high cantons, almost identical to the one where he stood. Sea lapped quietly between the cantons and Merlac watched as people watched as few people walked over the decorated bridges connecting the islands. Some of them were wearing identical, shining yellow armour sets and expressionless human face -shaped helmets. Those had to be Ordinator, the elite of guards in Morrowind. 

Merlac spent few moments admiring their machinelike walking and straight postures. It was almost noon and the whole city bathed in sunlight. The wind smoothly waved Merlac's short white hair. Merlac had seen a lot during last few months in his journeys and the nature of Vvardelfell was indeed beautiful, but this city was almost a match for it.

He started walking along the ramp, downwards, looking for the waisworks door. Merlac was so fascinated by the decorations hanging in the neighbour canton's wall, that he didn't watch where he was going and collided with something metallic. As Merlac looked in front of him, he was nearly scared to death. In front of him, almost a feet taller than him, stood an ordinator, with his shining armour and and perfect posture. He looked down to Merlac, but I was impossible to see the look on his face, as it was completely covered by his golden helmet. 

"I…I'm really sorry…", Merlac stuttered.

"Citizen", the ordinator said with calm voice, nodded, and then walked past Merlac with his boots clattering gently. For the rest of the way, Merlac kept his eyes in front of him.

Merlac found the waistworks rather easily, after asking for advice from eight different people. Caius had told him not to talk to any strangers about the informants, so Merlac had no choice but to sit down in a small bar called the Black Shalk Cornerclub and wait for something to happen. Merlac had just finished his second drink of Sujamma, as an Aragonian walked past his table. The lizard-man did not look at him, but he was clearly talking to Merlac.

"Follow me, young agent.", the lizard said.

Merlac wiped his mouth quickly and followed the aragonian outside the cornerclub.

"I presume you ar…"

"Not here, follow me."

The lizard led them into a small bookstore few corridors away from the bar. After he had close the door behind them in the bookstore, the aragonian turned to speak with Merlac.

"Huleeya they call me and sorry I am. Huleeya was not able to speak in the bar, many ears listening.", the lizard said.

"I understand, so…"

"Here are the documents the spymaster sent you for, now you must excuse dear Huleeya, as he has a boat to catch."

"Oh… thanks, but… you must leave so soon?"

"Huleeya sorry is, but must he go. Except one thing."

"And what is that?"

The Aragonian took another scroll of papers from his pocket.

"The Khajirr Addhiranirr sends her apologies, she was not able to meet young agent herself."

"Why is that? Something has happened?", asked Merlac sounding worried.

"Friend Addhiranirr not allowed to be in Vvardenfell, had she to escape from a Census and Excise agent I'm afraid. But her apologies she sends to the spymaster and hopes her information help can. But now Huleeya must leave, boat to the mainland soon leaves, good luck I may wish for you!"

After he had said this, the Aragonian walked out of the door and disappeared around the corner.

"Well that was a refreshing little conversation", said Merlac sarcastically to himself. "Ah well, two done, one to go. Next stop, - Merlac looked at the paper Caius had given him - Ministry of Wisdom? Neat."

Melac walked out of the door happily, knowing that as soon as he had done this little task for his master, Caius would finally tell him what was going on around him and what were those plans they had for him. 


	10. The Prophecy

****

Chapter Ten: The Prophecy

It took almost half an hour for Merlac to walk past the cantons to the southern part of Vivec, to the temple island. Though the two ministry buildings were almost as high as the common cantons, Merlac was able to see the gigantic palace behind it. Hundreds of steps led to a small doorway in the top of the palace, barely viewable by naked eye. Merlac wished one day he could be allowed to visit that great building. As he was moving his look towards the top of the distant building, Merlac was scared to death. (Once again)

About three hundred feet above the roof of the ministry of truth, literally floated an enormous rock. There were no scaffolds or anything, so the thing had to be there with some kind of magic. Wooden platforms hung around it, and as Merlac looked carefully, he noticed couple of ordinators patrolling there.

"It's the ministry of Truth.", said a female voice behind him.

Merlac turned around to see the speaker. She was a beautiful, long hair, woman, about the same age as Merlac himself. Her white hair glittered in the sunlight and her smile made Merlac's legs go numb.

"Err… hi", managed Merlac reply.

The girl giggled.

"Hi, I'm Mehra, Mehra Milo.", she smiled.

"Oh… Milo you said? Then you must be the one who I was ment to meet here?"

The girl nodded.

"Caius told me you would come. Merlac I presume? You're even cuter than I thought."

"Err… well… thanks", Merlac stuttered and felt his face redden.

"I'm a librarian in the ministry of wisdom, the building behind me."

For a few seconds Merlac just stared her, until he realised how stupid it looked.

"Umm… so Mehra, why is the ministry of… err…"

"Truth. And please, all my friends call me Milo, I heard it's cuter name", grinned Milo.

"Oh… so Milo, why is it up there?"

"The ministry of truth is the courthouse of Vvardenfell, and it also serves as a prison. Some people say that nobody has ever escaped from there, but I don't believe that. Though I have never been there… but I heard it's filled with ordinators."

"Sounds not-so-nice place."

The girl smiled to Merlac again.

"Please, follow me. I have the documents Caius asked for in the libary."

Milo led them inside the ministry of wisdom and as they walked along the stone corridors, she talked with whispers.

"All members of the ministry work under the command of the temple, and the temple considers the Nerevar prophecy lies and fairytales, and thinks the sixth house had been destroyed long time ago. That is why I need to be very careful, as I believe in the prophecy myself."

"What is this prophecy all about?", asked Merlac.

"What? Caius hasn't told you? Anything?!", Milo stopped and stared Merlac in disbelief.

Merlac looked away feeling uneasy. Caius indeed hadn't told him much about anything. He only knew who this Nerevar was in the history of Morrowind, but that was all.

"Master hasn't told me much, so could you please tell me what's going on?"

"I'm… I'm sorry Merlac, but I'm not the right person to tell you something this serious. You really need to talk with Caius, tell him I urged him to tell you.", Milo said sounding apologetic.

They had arrived to wooden door, labelled as "Libary", and they stepped in. It was a rather big room, full of bookshelves. Milo greeted some other woman librarians and led Merlac to the other end of the room. Merlac also noticed two ordinators standing in the corner.

"What are those doing in here? What can happen in a libra…."

"Shh!", hissed Milo. "They told us they are here for our safety, but that is rubbish. They are here because they are watching me."

"You?"

"Yes, me."

Milo drew a big, dusty book from the shelf, looked around in case somebody was watching, and then opened the book carefully. The book was hollow and inside it was a small scroll of paper and a smaller book.

"I have written into this scroll the information about the Dissident Priests for Caius. Give it and this book to Caius, and don't let _anyone_ see these."

"Sure", said Merlac and put the book and the scroll into his small backpack. "What is the book about?"

Milo looked around again, starting to look startled and lowered her voice even more.

"It is a book called the Progress of Truth. It is the last remaining copy of the book about the Nerevar prophecy. Take it to Caius, and be careful. As long as you remain free, there is hope. In case I'm caught by the Ordinators, I will leave a note with code word "amaya" into my room in here. Now go back to Caius and don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"Sure… but what are you goin…", he started, but went quiet as he noticed the ordinator standing next to him.

"By the order of high inquisitor, you, Merha Milo, are hereby taken to the ministry of truth for a questioning.", the ordinator said with unemotional voice.

Merlac saw the hopeless look on Milo's face. The word "go" appeared on her lips. Merlac hesitated for a second, and then left. As he looked back from the library's door, he saw two ordinators put handcuffs to Milo.

Merlac's thoughts were messy, as he walked, almost ran to the other end of Vivec. They had taken Milo to the ministry of truth, Caius must be told, he would know what to do. Ignoring the people he hit while running, Merlac ran even faster. As he reached the beach he immediately took a silt strider back to Balmora.

When in Balmora, Merlac ran straight to Caius's house ignoring the people who greeted him. He didn't stop until he reached the house and rushed in. The house was empty.

Merlac looked around feeling desperate. There was no time, he had to find Caius. He was just about to leave the house, as he noticed a piece of paper in the table. As Merlac took it into his hands, he saw it was not addressed to him, but Caius himself. He was not allowed to read his master's letters but seeing his name in the paper caught his attention.

_ ****_

Spymaster Caius Cosades

Knight of the Imperial Order of Blades

Director of Imperial Intelligence in Vvardenfell District, Eastern Provinces

I have the honor to acquaint you with his Majesty's wishes concerning , an individual of no rank or consequence.

Merlac has been released from prison by his Majesty's authority and sent to you with this missive. Merlac is to be entered as a Novice in the Imperial Order of the Blades, and is to serve under your absolute authority as you shall see fit, except insofar as his Majesty's particular wishes are concerned.

His Majesty's particular wishes are as follows.

A local superstition holds that an orphan and outcast, a youth born on a certain day to uncertain parents, shall unite all the tribes of the Dunmer, drive out the invaders of Morrowind, and shall reestablish the ancient laws and customs of the Dark Elven nations. This orphan and outcast is called in legend the "Nerevarine," and is supposed to be a reincarnation of the long-dead Chimer/Dunmer General and First Councilor, Lord Indoril Nerevar.

Melrac has the appearance of meeting the conditions of this local superstition. Therefore it is his Majesty's desire that shall, insofar as is possible, satisfy the conditions of this ancient prophecy, and shall become the Nerevarine.

Though this prophecy is indeed only an ancient local superstition, his Majesty has taken counsel on this matter with his most expert informants and confidants, and his Majesty is persuaded that the prophecy is genuine and significant, either in its entirety, or in its several parts, and he earnestly demands you treat this matter with the utmost seriousness.

Certain aspects of this ancient superstition are described at the end of this document, and further materials will be forthcoming by courier at the earliest occasion. It will, of course, be necessary that you acquaint yourself better with the details of this ancient superstition from your local sources. Since this matter intimately concerns , it is expected that you will employ him to gather information on this subject. His Majesty has taken a great personal interest in the legends and prophecies of the Nerevarine, and eagerly awaits your reports.

I have the honor to be, Sir, your most Humble and Obedient Servant,

Glabrio Bellienus

Personal Secretary to the Emperor

For few minutes Merlac just stared at the paper. Then he read it again and again. It all started to make sense. Caius's strange tasks, his abilities with magic, everything. Even Milo's words. Milo! Merlac dropped the letter back to the table as he remembered why he had been in such a hurry. Merlac turned around to go looking for Caius, but the spymaster was already standing in the doorway, looking at him with serious look on his face. No smile, no grin, nothing.


	11. SulMatuul of Urshilaku

****

Chapter Eleven: Sul-Matuul of Urshilaku

Merlac stared at his master with horror. He tried to speak, but no word came out of his mouth. He tried to move, but his legs were like two heavy stones. Caius stared back, looking serious. Suddenly, the look on his face changed from serious to rather sad. The spymaster sighed quietly and closed the door behind him.

"This was not the way I was about to let you know.", Caius said looking away from Merlac. "Sit down."

Merlac swallowed laboriously but did not move.

"Master, I know I should not have looked at your personal stuff and… but… why didn't you tell me?"

"I said sit down", said Caius impatiently. But Merlac did not move. His fear started to fade away and hatred filled him. Hatred towards his master.

"Why didn't you tell me?", Merlac asked again, sounding more demanding.

Caius sat to a wooden chair and looked down.

"Why didn't you te…", Merlac started again, but Caius suddenly stood back up and yelled at him.

"Because I didn't believe at the prophecy myself!"

Caius tried to continue, but the words stuck into his throat. Then he sat down again and spoke, this time sounding very old and sad.

"Please sit down, it's time for you to hear _everything_."

Finally, Merlac sat down to Caius's bed.

"I didn't tell you about the prophecy, because I didn't believe in it even myself. Temple declared the prophecy illegal long time ago, but like it says in the letter, the Emperor seems to believe in it. I still didn't believe in the prophecy when I got that letter, just before you arrived to Balmora first time several months ago, but now…. I'm not sure what to believe."

Caius sat quiet for a moment and continued then.

"What can I say? You're here to save Morrowind. You must take your place as the Nerevar reborn, protector of people."

"But master… how can it be? I'm just…. Nothing. My parents were nothing, though I didn't even know them. I've spent whole my life in prisons! How can I be this Nerevar-guy?"

"Born to uncertain parents, under a certain star sign.", Caius said quietly.

Merlac rose up and started walking back and forth in the room, shaking his head in disbelief. Then he remembered it again.

"Milo! Quickly master, we must help her, the ordinators took him!"

"Calm down Merlac, calm down. I know about Milo. I got a magic letter from the Emperor just before you arrived. He is taken to the ministry of truth for questioning and there is nothing we can do it at the moment."

"But… there must be something we can do, can't the Emperor just set him free?"

"Things are not that simple, I'm afraid. The Emperor can't help Milo now, and so can't we. All we can do now is to wait and hope for best. But before that, there are other matters that require your full dedication."

"What?! What can be more important than helping Milo?", yelled Merlac.

"I understand you might feel something towards her, the prophecy says the one would love a dissident priest."

"So does the prophecy tell us is she going to be all right?", Merlac urged Caius.

"I'm afraid it doesn't. She is not an important person in the prophecy."

Merlac sat down again and leant his head into his arms. He didn't want this, he didn't want to be the one. He just wanted Milo. It was strange how strongly he felt towards her after just few minutes of conversation.

"All we can do, is to wait. You can't help her by sitting there, Merlac.", said Caius.

Merlac looked at his master.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I'm not the one who can tell you for sure if you are the one true Nerevar or not, you must go and seek for audience with Sul-Matuul, the leader of an Ashlander tribe Urshilaku. Perhaps he can check the ancient beliefs of the ashlander tribes and confirm if you are the one mentioned in the prophecies or not."

Caius took a map of Vvardenfell from his desk drawer and placed it on the table.

"Now, the easiest way to the camp is… hmm… take a silt strider to Ald'ruhn, and from there to Khuul. It's a small fishing village in the north west coast of Vvardenfell. When you reach Khuul, follow the coastline to east until you reach a daedric shrine.", said Caius while moving his finger along the map.

"And then?"

"Then…. I'm not sure, I've never been there. But the camp should be somewhere in the eastern side of the shrine, not too far from it. If you still follow the coast, you might not be able to see camp, as the terrain is full of slopes."

"I'll find it. Is there anything else I should know?", asked Merlac, anxious to leave.

"Yes. The ashlanders are not very hospitable people. They are the old clans of Dunmer people and they despise our style of living."

"So they are old chimers?"

"No, no, you got it all wrong. The Chimer were changed into dunmer at the same day Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil got their abilities of gods, but the ashlanders are one of the last remaining original dunmers in Morrowind."

"Oh… all right. Can I go now?"

Caius gave a laugh.

"Heh, you remind me of myself when I was a young man. Always in a hurry to get yourself into danger. You have to understand that if you are the Nerevar reborn, you have a long path in front of you. But perhaps I can help you a bit."

"And how is that?"

"Hasphat told me you have been really dedicated in the fighter's guild. I heard you even beat the Fire-Eye herself, is that true?"

"Umm… yeah, in combat with longswords, but that was just luck and I….", Merlac started.

"No, it wasn't luck. If you are the Nerevar reborn, you must have some of his skills within you. Did you know that General Nerevar was a champion in swords with long blades?"

"No, I didn't… really?"

"Yeah, and that is why I have a small gift for you.", Caius grinned.

Caius walked to his bed and took a dusty, long, wooden box from under it.

"I was meant to give you this when I send you to the camp of Urshilaku, so I give it to you now.

Caius opened the box. It was full of straws, but Caius pushed them aside. In the middle of the box was a polished longsword, and as soon as Merlac saw it, he knew it was no ordinary sword. Caius grabbed the sword with his both hands and carefully lifted it from the box.

"This, my friend, is the one and only longsword of Lord Vivec himself. It was forged by a daedric blacksmith several millennium ago.", said Caius with pride in his voice.

"It's a daedric sword?"

"It is the finest daedric sword ever created. Only the sacred skimitar of Lady Almalexia, the Hopesfire, and the original blade of Nerevar are said to be even more powerful, but Nerevar's sword, the Trueflame, was destroyed long time ago and nobody knows where the pieces ended up, so this is the best sword available for your job."

"But... how did YOU get this?", Merlac kept wondering.

"Lord Vivec donated it to the museum of rare artifacts in the city of Mourhold long ago, the Emperor bought it from there into his own collections and he thought you might find this useful."

Caius handed the sword to Merlac and he carefully grabbed it's hilt. Though the room was rather dark, the blade shined and glowed bright blue.

"Why does it glow like that?", asked Merlac.

"It has been enchanted with the soul of a powerful golden saint, which harnesses incredible magical abilities within it. It cuts flesh, stone and undead creatures much more efficiently than any other sword you have used before."

Merlac carefully swung the sword in the air. It felt incredibly light, much lighter than his previous sword, though it was almost two times as long.

"With that sword, you will win any obstacle in your path to take your place as Nerevar reborn. Use it well, use it wisely. Now go, seek audience with Sul-Matuul and don't accept denial as an answer. Use force when necessary, but don't insult the ashlanders, or they will die before co-operating. Good luck, my friend."

Merlac sheathed his new sword, nodded at Caius and walked out of the house. This might not be the last time he would see his master, but next time he might be a different person. If only these ashlanders would agree with the prophecy…

At the small hours of next day, Merlac arrived to Khuul. As he had just slept the whole night in the back of silt strider, as much as it was possible, he felt like being able to continue travelling right away. He followed the instructions Caius had given him and arrived to the daedric shrine just before sunrise. Merlac practised his magical skills while passing the shrine, by stunning two large wild guars. Ranis had taught him the stunning spell just before Caius sent him to Vivec, but Merlac hadn't had any time to try it on living subjects until now.

The nature in northern Vvardenfell couldn't be more different from the nature around Balmora. The hills were grey like ash, there were grey sand all over him instead of grass and threes were black and without leaves. Wild guars were probably the friendliest in this part of the island, as the rest consisted only of daedric creatures and Kagouti-monsters.

Merlac walked up to a small hill to take a look around from higher ground, looking for the Urshilaku camp. The view from the top of the hill was hopeless; only more grey sand ridges in all directions. Merlac sighed. It could take a long time before he would find the camp. Suddenly, something cracked.

Instantly, seven dunmer men rushed up from the sand where they had dug themselves in, all with their weapons ready. Three men pointed Merlac with their wooden bows, as the others charged at him with their swords. But Merlac was faster. He grabbed the bow from the hands of the man next to him and crashed it to another's face, while kicking third man to stomach. The man bent twice over in pain and was thrown against a man behind him.

Merlac cast a stunning spell on the ground so that the sand exploded upwards, blinding the two dunmer in front of the blast. The last man waved his sword backwards, ready to strike with it, but Merlac grabbed the hilt of Vivec's longsword and drew it out. As the blade rose from the leather sheath, the sun rose from behind nearby hill and its light reflected from the blade, making it glow nearly as brightly as the sun itself. All seven dunmer attackers took a step backwards in dread, and covered their eyes from the light.

Merlac looked around, glancing the attackers without fear. One of them stood cautiously without his bow, second holding his still aching stomach and third's face was bleeding slowly. The two man who Merlac had almost stunned, stood up from the ground. Only one still held his weapon. This man was still screwing up his eyes, but he looked at Merlac defiantly

"Who are you and what are you doing in the lands of the Urshilaku?", the man demanded.

Merlac looked at him, but didn't lower his sword. All seven dunmer were dressed in dusty animal skins and torn pieces of clothes. Though their weapons looked old and worn-out, they were still very sharp.

"My name is Merlac and my business is my own, unless you can show me the way to Urshilaku camp.", replied Merlac.

"I am Zabamund, the right hand of our chief, Sul-Matuul of Urshilaku, and I demand to know what is your business in our village, imperial.", the man demanded again.

"I have come to seek an audience with Sul-Matuul, to confirm if I am the true Nerevar reborn, protector of people."

"Hah, you wouldn't be the first one asking to confirm that. Tell me why you would be different from those fools who only seek gold and glory?", Zabamund spat.

Merlac thought for a moment before answering.

"I suggest a fair game. If you can beat me in a fight with swords, you may do whatever you wish for me, but if I beat you, you must lead be to see your chief.", said Merlac with calm voice.

Zabamund gave a laugh.

"I'm not that stupid, I will not fight against a daedric longsword with my rusty old shortsword."

"Fine", said Merlac, and sheathed his Vivec's sword. "How about you give me one of your men's swords?"

"Deal", Zabamund chuckled.

Merlac opened his belt and gave his swords to the dunmer standing next to him, while Zabamund took off his leather cuirass. One of the dunmers threw a short bonemold-sword to the sand in front of Merlac and he took it up while Zabamund's men formed a circle around the two fighters.

"I warn you boy, Sul-Matuul chooses his right hand by the combat skills this manages. The only better swordsman in our tribe, is Sul-Matuul himself."

"We shall see", replied Merlac quietly.

Without further warning, the dunmer attacked. His hits were furious and Merlac was only barely able to stop them. It took Merlac almost a minute before he was able to strike his first hit towards Zabamund, but this repelled it easily. This man was indeed extremely skilled swordsman, so Merlac just had to be faster than him or suffer the consequences.

Zabamund used every trick to win Merlac. He tried to kick sand into Merlac's eyes and swinged with his sword like a madman. Soon, he noticed a weak spot in Merlac's defence, and hit it hard. Luckily, Merlac noticed this and evaded. During the same move, Merlac hit the dunmer into stomach with the flat side of his sword, making him to yell in pain. Merlac swiftly turned over again and hit the sword out of Zabamund's hand. The other dunmers stared with amazement, as Merlac pointed his sword at Zabamund's throat.

"So," said Merlac gasping in exhaustion. "How about that audience?"

The other dunmers looked confused, some of them even drew out their weapons and stared at Zabamund, waiting for commands. Zabamund sighed.

"This man has beaten me in fair combat, so his life cannot be taken. Ashlander's promise must be kept, lower your weapons men.", he said with loud, calm voice.

The dunmers lowered their weapons and one of the handed Merlac his own longsword back.

"I will take you to our camp to see Sul-Matuul, but that is all I can promise. We ashlanders don't like outlanders, like you, so don't expect any warm welcome."

"This hasn't been a day of warm welcomes anyways", said Merlac.

Zabamund nodded to his men and the group started walking along the grey dunes. After few minutes they arrived to a group of harnessed guars, lolling under a small dune. The ashlanders climbed to their animals and Merlac sat down on the back of the largest guar with Zabamund.

The journey was rather short but unpleasant, as guars are not actually meant for riding. After about one hour of riding, the group arrived to the Urshilaku camp.

The camp consisted of about dozen large huts and as the group arrived, several dunmers ceased doing their jobs and stared at the only white-faced person amongst them; Merlac. Merlac heard many of them whispering something in a language he was not familiar with. A woman who was breast-feeding her child outside her hut, watched Merlac with contempt, as this stood down from Zabamund's guar.

"This way", Zabamund growled, without looking at Merlac. He started walking towards three smaller huts with large animal skin strained above them, clearly the high-ranking members of the tribe lived there.

In front of the middle yurt, Zabamund stopped and turned towards Merlac.

"If Sul-Matuul doesn't wish to speak with you, you must leave immediately. While inside his hut, you must be humble and polite towards him. If you insult him in any way, we will kill you."

Zabamund walked inside the hut, closely followed by Merlac. Inside, the hut was even more decorated than from outside. Numerous animal- and - to Merlac's horror - human skulls hung in the hut walls. The whole place smelled like spoiled guar meat, but Merlac didn't say anything. In the middle of the room was a low stone chair, covered with animal furs and fabrics. There sat Sul-Matuul himself, two strong warriors standing in his sides.

Merlac was surprised to see how old Sul-Matuul was, though he still looked… agile, somehow, though he was only sitting there with his eyes closed. Merlac could immediately see why the tribe members honoured this man so much; dignity almost literally glowed from this person.

Zabamund stopped before Sul-Matuul, kneeled and pointed Merlac to do the same. Finally, Sul-Matuul opened his eyes slowly and looked at Merlac.

"Zabamund, by loyal warrior, who is this who you bring before me?", he asked with quiet but clear voice.

"Great Sul-Matuul of Urshilaku, this one requires an audience with you considering ancient ashlander beliefs about the Nerevarine prophecy.", Zabamund replied with humble voice.

"I do not like outlanders, you know this my friend, still you have brought him before me. Tell me why?", said Sul-Matuul with calm voice, but Zabamund's face went pale.

"Oh valued leader, forgive me, but I made a promise to this man and…", he started to stutter.

"You _what_!?", roared Sul-Matuul and stood up. "What, did you promise to this man?"

"I… we fought with swords, oh great leader." Zabamund looked like he was about to start crying.

"This man, outlander, has beaten you in combat?"

"Ye…yes my lord."

Sul-Matuul sighed.

"Law is law. If an ashlander makes a promise, it must be kept. I'm very disappointed in you, Zabamund, but I will grant this man his audience.", Sul-Matuul said, and for the first time looked at Merlac.

Zabamund walked out of the hut with the two guards, leaving Merlac alone with Sul-Matuul. The old tribe leader sat down again.

"You may sit down, outlander."

As there were no other chairs in the room, Merlac sat down to the ground, on a large animal skin.

"Now tell me, who are you and why do you seek my guidance, outlander.", Sul-Matuul asked.

Merlac gathered all his dignity and spoke, trying carefully not to insult the great leader on any way.

"My name is Merlac, the Nerevar reborn, protector of people. I have come to seek your guidance in my journeys."

Sul-Matuul gave a short laugh.

"Nerevarine, you say? You have come to see whenether you are the one person who shall fulfil the prophecy?"

Sul-Matuul sat quiet for a short time, thinking, and then spoke again.

"I cannot give you the access to ancient ashlander beliefs, outlander. You must first prove to me that you have the potential to be the one."

"I'm ready for anything. Just name your tasks and I will do them.", Merlac said.

Sul-Matuul laughed again.

"Anything, you say? In that case I have something special for you, outlander. You must enter the Urshilaku burial caverns not too far away from here, and retrieve my father's Bonebiter bow from his last resting place."

"And…that's all?", asked Merlac.

"Don't be so sure, outlander. Arrogance has doomed the previous ones who have believed they are the ones who fulfil the prophecy, and I believe you will share their fate. The caverns are south from the camp, now go and don't return util you have my father's bow!"

Merlac looked like he was about to say something, but he just closed his mouth and walked out of the hut.

The people continued to stare Merlac, as he walked through the camp. After 20 minutes of walking, Merlac arrived to a grey cliff, clearly standing out from the rest of the terrain. Merlac started walking around it, and in the other side the cliff, facing south, was a small wooden doorway in the rock.

Merlac walked to the doorway, and was just about to step in, as a bright light hit his eyes. Something bright white appeared from thin air in front of him, almost making his eyes go blind. Merlac covered his eyes with his hand and fumbled his sword.

Finally, the light darkened enough so that Merlac was able to look at it. He held the longsword of Vivec in his both hands and prepared to strike, but then Merlac saw a woman's face in the middle of the whiteness. The white glow darkened a bit more and Merlac was now able to see the whole woman standing in front of him.

Merlac stared this sight in astonishment, and then he understood. This was the same blond woman he had seen in mountains surrounding Arkngthand the dwemer fort, while searching for the dwemer puzzle box. Merlac had seen here numerous times during his journeys in Vvardenfell, always before danger, but this was the first time he saw her face to face.

"Who are you?", Merlac was able to say.

"I am Azura, the goddess of Morrowind. You are the one who tries to walk his path, unaware of his destiny. You must not give up on your journey, or the doom is near. Go with fortune mortal, go with my blessing.", the woman said with beautiful voice.

"Why have you helped me? What is my destiny?", Merlac tried to ask.

The woman just stood still, smiling. Though she looked very young and beautiful, it was impossible to say her age. Then, without a warning, she disappeared again, leaving perplexed Merlac alone again.

The appearing of this woman, Azura, had to mean danger again. Merlac had to be careful. Without any doubt, Merlac walked inside the cavern. Indeed, there was danger. But still, over eight hours later, Merlac crawled out to open air again, holding a very old wooden bow in his left hand, pressing his heavily bleeding right leg with his right hand…


	12. The Sixth House

****

Chapter Twelve: The Sixth House Cult

With his last strength, Merlac partly walked, partly crawled back to Urshilaku camp. There had indeed been some danger. The caverns were filled with undead creatures, like skeletons, ghosts and beasts of large variety. Most of them Merlac had handled with little trouble, as the longsword of Vivec cut through them like if they were thin wood. But the ancestral guardian of Sul-Matuul's father's grave had possessed great magical powers far beyond Merlac's skills.

No matter what Merlac did, the wounds just didn't stop bleeding, and his leg was also badly burnt. The ancient spells made the pain ten times as powerful, and Merlac used his last strength trying to stay conscious. As he crawled to the edge of Urshilaku camp, Sul-Matuul heard the screams of the people who saw Merlac, and rushed out of his hut.

Sul-Matuul ran to Merlac and kneeled in front of him. Merlac collapsed to his feet, handing the old tribe leader his father's bow. Sul-Matuul was able to do nothing, but stare the bow for few seconds in astonishment. Merlac closed his eyes but did not pass out yet. 

"Quickly, carry him to Nibani's hut! Do it!", Merlac heard Sul-Matuul yelling to his men.

Six warriors grabbed Merlac gently and carried him to the nearby hut. They carefully put him down on the ground and Merlac laboriously opened his eyes again. Sul-Matuul and a old woman were kneeled next to him and the woman was doing something to his leg. Merlac tried to speak, but he only felt the taste of blood in his mouth. Then, Merlac lost his consciousness.

Following night was most likely the worst Merlac had ever had. Though unconscious, vast amounts of pain still disturbed him. The poison in his leg caused fever to rise and Merlac started to see nightmares again.

He was sitting on a cold, wet stone floor, inside a dark corridor. Suddenly, the torches on the walls lit up. The corridor looked familiar, it was the same corridor Merlac had seen during another nightmare few months ago. Merlac stood up and looked around. Then he heard it again; footsteps coming his way. A shadow of some huge creature rose slowly to the wall, as it moved closer. 

Merlac breathed quietly and stared at the end of the corridor, waiting for the creature to show himself. This was the point where Merlac had woken the last time, but this time the nightmare continued.

Just before the creature became visible, everything blurred around Merlac. As they sharpened again, he wasn't in the same corridor anymore. He was standing somewhere outside, though it was very dark around him. Merlac looked around again, but didn't see much. The ground was filled with dark ash, and only pale source of light was a glowing volcano in distant horizon. Merlac heard something walk behind him and quickly turned around. 

"Who's there?", Merlac yelled to the darkness. Nobody answered.

Merlac was just about to yell again, as everything blurred again. He was still outside, but this time the weather was clear and sun was just above the horizon. He was standing on a high cliff.

Suddenly, a bombastic sound of some kind of big horn filled the air. Few seconds later, another sound like it was heard, this time a bit farther away. Merlac walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

Down in the valley, hundreds, maybe thousands of people walked in straight formation towards another, even larger group of people. It was a battle. The larger group was standing in front of a huge, orange fort, clearly a dwemer stronghold. Those were dwarves? But… that would mean the other group had to be Chimer.

Another large horn yelled to the cold air, and like as a reply, the attacking army yelled, and rose their weapons. After few seconds, Merlac heard another smaller horn tolling in the fort. On the wide walls of the fort, the dwemer warriors pushed large war machines to their positions. One after another, they were fired and large, deadly arrows were thrown upon the Chimer army, mutilating rows of warriors every time they hit ground.

As Merlac looked more carefully at the attacking army, he saw them. On the other side of the valley, stood a long-haired man, with white armour set, observing the battle. Could he… could he be…?

Merlac didn't have any time to wonder longer, as everything blurred around him once again. The smell of guar skin filled his nose again and pain returned to his body. Merlac was back in the ashlander camp.

"Calm down, calm down!", said a woman voice next to him. Merlac looked around. He was in a tent, sitting on the bed he had been brought to.

"You need to rest, lay down", the woman said. Merlac realised he had almost stood up when he woke up, and allowed the woman to lay him down again.

The woman was very old, and her tent was filled with different kinds of decorative clothes and animal skins. The woman softly tried Merlac's forehead. 

"Good, the fever is almost gone.", the woman spoke again.

"Where….where am I?", asked Merlac with rather weak voice.

"You're safe now. You were badly injured and I'm very surprised you managed to crawl back to the camp by yourself."

Merlac leant forward and looked at his leg. The wound was almost healed, though his trousers burnt around it.

"How long have I been unconscious?", asked Merlac.

"You've been sleeping for almost three days, luckily some of my grandmother's old herbs healed your leg…"

"What?! Three days!?", breathed Merlac. "But… I'm extremely thankful to you and everything, but… why did you help me? I thought the ashlanders didn't like outlanders?"

"We don't.", a voice spoke from the hut's doorway. "But though I very much doubted you would manage to retrieve my father's bow, you have succeeded."

It was Sul-Matuul. For the first time, Merlac saw the old man smiling. The old tribe leader kneeled next to Merlac's bed. 

"You have proved your worthiness, young imperial. I shall declare you the clanfriend of Urshilaku and you will always be welcome here."

Merlac didn't know what he was supposed to say or how to react, but before he said anything, Sul-Matuul continued.

"You keep wondering, whether you are the one they mention in the lost prophecies, do you not?"

Merlac nodded.

"Allow me to introduce Nibani Maesa, the wise woman of the Urshilaku.", Sul-Matuul said, and pointed at the old woman sitting next to him.

Nibani smiled to Merlac and spoke with kind voice.

"You indeed have the potential to become the one, young imperial.", she said.

"To become?", asked Merlac.

"Yes, during last few centuries, many have tried to take their place as the Nerevar reborn, but only one, true incarnate can take his place as the real saviour."

"So, how do I know whether I am the Nerevarine or not?"

"I will tell you as soon as I know myself, but to make sure if you are the general himself, I must first read the lost prophecies of the Dissident Priests, in them it is written how to test the candidates. Unfortunately, I do not know where the lost prophecies are, it is up to you to find them and bring them to me."

"When can I leave?", asked Merlac.

Sul-Matuul and Nibani gave a laugh.

"Patience, young imperial.", Nibani said. "Your leg must heal first. I believe you may leave after resting two more days."

***

In the evening of the third day, somebody knocked at the door of Caius' house. As the spymaster opened the door, Merlac was able to see great surprise on his face.

"Merlac? But…how…already here? What happened? Come in, tell me everything!", Caius hurried Merlac.

They both sat down again and Merlac started telling. He told Caius about his battle with Zabamund and his first meeting with Sul-Matuul. He also told Caius about his little "visit" to the Urshilaku burial caverns, at which point Caius was able to do nothing but stare in astonishment, as he heard about Nibani's healing powers.

"So, now I must find and bring Nibani the lost prophecies and she will test me whether I am the one or not.", Merlac finished his story.

"Hmm.", Caius though himself. "I will contact Gilvas Barelo, the high priest of the dissident priests. He, if anyone, will know where the lost documents are. While he searches for them, there is another matter that requires our attention."

"Yes, master? What is it?", Merlac asked.

"Something worrying is happening near Ald'ruhun. Two days ago, Buckmoth Legion Fort sent a patrol of highly trained soldiers to check rumours about a lately built sixth house cult meeting point somewhere in the western coast of Vvardenfell. Twelve men left the fort, only one of them returned."

"What had happened?"

"We don't know exactly, because the soldier who had survived, died soon after arriving back to the fort. He died in the terrible corpus disease."

"Corpus?", breathed Merlac.

"There is no cure to corpus disease. Everyone who has it, will eventually, usually very soon, turn into a creature-like monster, like the ones who walk in the ridges of Red Mountain. They are brutal animals, deformed creatures who live in great pain, and die soon."

"How did he get it?"

"That is what you must find out. It is most worrying that corpus disease is found outside the ghost fence. And this is only one of the worrying events lately; I have received several reports from cities in southern Vvardenfell, that they have encountered severe ash storms."

"What's unusual in that? Almost every time I've been in Ald'ruhun, there is a huge sand storm making everyone crazy."

"Yes, yes.", said Caius. "But Ald'ruhun is so near the Red Mountain, it is usual there, but there hasn't been ash storms this far south in several centuries, the last time was at the time of the war between dwemer and chimer! But anyway, there is nothing we can do about it just yet… before we know what is going on. I will send you to Buckmoth Legion Fort as soon as possible."

"And what after I've arrived there, master?"

"You must contact Raesa Pullia, he will tell you all he knows about the sixth house base. You must then find the base and… well… kick the crap out of everything."

Merlac stared at his master in disbelief.

"Umm… master?", he asked.

"Yes? What's the matter?"

"Well, how could I succeed in something where twelve highly trained soldiers didn't?"

"Before the last soldier died, he told something about a wizard. Soldiers of the imperial legions can't do any spells, so they are basically just breakfast for a skilled wizard. But where they failed, you will succeed. You have learned rather useful spells from Ranis, use them and you should do fine against the sixth house cult followers."

"What about the wizard?", asked Merlac, with a bit worry in his voice.

"Stun him, kill him, do anything you wish as long as you make sure sixth house cult followers won't continue meeting each other at that location."

"Very well then, master. See you in few days", grinned Merlac.

Just before Merlac walked out of the door, Caius spoke again.

"And one more thing, Merlac."

Merlac turned around and looked at Caius, waiting.

"Good luck, once again."

Merlac gave a short smile and walked out from the door.

***

Merlac spent the following night in the South Wall Corner club, eating, resting and practising the few spells he knew. Early in the morning, just before the sun had risen, he walked up the stairs leading to the silt strider platform, paid the caravaner some septims and travelled to Ald'ruhun. As the sun rose, his new elven light cuirass shined in the orange sunlight. This chest armour was magically enchanted to be extremely magic-resistant and Merlac hoped this would help him to encounter the sixth house wizard, if there were any.

A bit before noon, the silt strider arrived to Ald'ruhun. The last hour of the journey had been suffering, as a strong ash storm had risen suddenly and Merlac was still shaking sand out of his clothes.

Merlac didn't bother to go inside the city walls at all, as the fort was only few minutes walk south from Ald'ruhun. Merlac sighed in relief as he reached the inner courtyard of the fort, where walls held most of the wind of the ash storm.

"Where can I find Raesa Pullia?", Merlac asked from a guard patrolling the yard.

"Who?", the guard yelled against the raging wind.

"Raesa Pullia!", Merlac yelled back loudly and clearly, while trying to prevent sand flying into his mouth at the same time.

The guard pointed at the nearby tower building and covered his face with a piece of cloth again.

The feeling was incredible when Merlac closed the door behind him. No more wind, no more sand, and the thick stone walls muffled most of the thundering sound of the wind.

"Greetings", said a officer who had noticed Merlac coming in. "What brings you to Buckmoth, outlander? Want to join the imperial legions? If you are just looking for shelter, I suggest you move your lazy body to the city", the officer said rather impatiently.

"Oh, hi. I'm here to investigate the sixth house cult incident.", replied Merlac

"Great, another arrogant adventurer who thinks he can succeed in something where six finest soldiers of the legions failed."

"I though there were twelve?", asked Merlac.

"Yeah, whatever.

"Are you Raesa Pullia?", asked Merlac again.

"Might be, but I'm also a busy man, so just go to the location marked at this map, called the _Khartag Point. _It's an old meeting place for smugglers, but now it seems the sixth house cult fanatics have invaded the secret caves."

"How did you know I was coming, you made the map and all I mean."

"You are the eleventh adventurer within 24 hours who comes here to offer his or her "help", and none of the ones who went before you, have returned, so as you might guess I don't have much trust that you would succeed. But if you want to die trying, fine. The base was found near Gnaar Mok, now go and leave me alone."

Merlac took the map and stared after the officer, as this turned around and walked away with his armour clattering.

***

Journey to Gnaar Mok didn't take many hours, and after having a quick lunch at the fishing village, Merlac continued north along the coast line, until he reached a small swamp.

A thick fog covered everything, so it took some time for Merlac to find a safe path to a small cape in the middle of the swamp. No wonder this place was so hard to find. After almost falling third time into a boghole, Merlac found a small wooden trapdoor hidden between few bushes. He wielded the longsword of Vivec once again, and quietly climbed down the ladders under the door.

In spite of the fact that the tunnels were located under a wet swamp, they were rather dry. Some small waterfalls and dripstones, Merlac was able to walk with almost dry feet.

After few minutes of careful walking, Merlac heard voices coming from ahead of him, and hid himself behind a large pile of rocks. He watched from the shadows as two cult fanatics walked past him, talking with each other. They were clearly leaving from the cave.

First Merlac though he should let them just go, but then he remembered Caius telling him that all cult followers should be either killed or taken to imperial prisons.

Merlac didn't like attacking anyone, even his enemies, from behind, so he decided to have little fun with these men.

"Excuse me", Merlac yelled to the men. "Do you happen to know where I could find Lord Vivec, does he live around here?"

As the two men turned around in fright, Merlac noticed they had no visible weapons, swords or bows, with them. He wouldn't attack unarmed enemies, so he would have to stun them.

But to Merlac's surprise, neither of the men hesitated a second, but lowered their cloak's hoods and pointed their hands towards Merlac.

Two bolts of lightning struck towards Merlac, who evaded and the spells broke the rock behind him into smoking pieces. These men were both advanced wizards.

"You could have just said no!", yelled Merlac and evaded another bolt of lightning.

The game was over, no more time for non-lethal actions. It was either him or them. Merlac shot a stunning spell to the roof of the cave, which collapsed partly and a huge pile of rock fell into heads of the men, crushing them like scribs. Luckily the cave corridor didn't clog totally and no water rushed in. Unfortunately, the whole Vvardenfell had probably heard the explosion.

Merlac decided to forget the quiet way of approach, and rushed to first cave room. Five similar sixth house followers were already running towards the sound of explosion, but they stopped as Merlac appeared on the other side of the room.

This time Merlac did not hesitate of play any games. He stunned two of the fanatics with two swings of his hand, threw a small knife into third's throat, who unfortunately evaded it, and the other two took cover behind some large wooden barrels. 

In a matter of seconds, the air was filled with spells and curses. The three remaining men fired deadly spells towards Merlac, but luckily they didn't seem to have very good aiming skills. Merlac had to jump behind another barrel, as the one behind which he had been hiding in, caught fire from a spell and almost exploded into his eyes.

Over the sounds of spells, Merlac heard more voices coming his way from the tunnel on the other side of the cave. He had to take care of these wizards fast or he would soon be against overwhelming enemy. He took up a smoking piece of wooden chair and threw it high in the air. While the sixth house wizards took a short glance at the flying object, Merlac stunned another wizard, wielded Vivec's longsword and rushed towards the two remaining men.

One of them managed to shoot one more magic bolt against Merlac, which dissolved against his new cuirass, but just before he was able to fire again Merlac swung his sword, cutting man's hand from its wrist. The man screamed in pain and covered his bleeding hand into his armpit. The other wizard didn't have the courage to cast any spells this close, so he decided to run away.

Merlac took the knife from the ground where it had fell after throwing it the first time, and threw it after the fleeing man. This time the knife hit it's target and the man fell onto his face, trying to reach the knife which was sticking out of his lower back.

Merlac ran forward. Now the whole cave-network was aware of his presence, so he had to move quickly and find the one, whoever was in leading role in this place, and kill him. A pure rage flowed from within him, as three more wizards appeared from stone corridor in front of Merlac. This time he didn't want to use any stunning spells. He hadn't practised any lethal spells and Ranis had ordered him not to do so, as they were not the way of acting in the Mage's guild, but Merlac didn't care. Instinctively Merlac sheathed his sword again and pointed his right hand at the three wizards.

First the wizards looked like they were about to attack as well, but as they saw their dead, stunned and wounded friends, and Merlac whose hand had began to sparkle in blood-red flames, they turned around with fear in their faces and ran back to where they had come from. But Merlac went after them.

Merlac didn't bother to use the stairs leading to corridor in the upper corner of the cave. He memorised the ancient runes in his mind and closed his eyes. His feet rose from the ground and he walked, partly just floated up to the corridor. The running wizards looked in horror behind them as Merlac landed only few meters behind them and rose up his hand again. Merlac cast a huge red fireball after the wizards, who were literally burnt alive when the fireball hit them.

But Merlac did not stop there. He continued walking fast with a determined look on his face. He followed the straightforward tunnels few more minutes, killing two more wizards on the way, until he reached a room where was no other tunnels leading away. On the walls where two fireplaces and numerous shelves filled with dark books, burning candles and daedric items. In the middle of the room stood a tall, rather old wizard with devil-like look on his face.

Merlac stopped on the doorway and stared at the wizard. The wizard stared back.

"You have slaughtered my every follower, you fool!", the wizard spat, but there was no anger in his voice, just disgust.

"And now I will kill you, and your pathetic little sixth house cult", replied Merlac.

The wizard burst laughing, and as the fire reflected from his face, Merlac saw it was slightly deformed face of a old dunmer man.

"You ignorant fool", the wizard continued. "I am barely a humble follower of the House Dagoth, the so called "sixth house". But like the ones before you, you will fall against the wrath of Dagoth Gares, the cousin of Dagoth Ur himself!"

"Yeah, right, I believe you will die like the rest of your men.", Merlac replied with confident voice.

"Oh, really?", the wizard said in quiet, calm and calculating voice. "But I am no man, nor am I dunmer. I am an ash vampire, loyal servant of my lord, Dagoth Ur, and you will die before his wrath!"

Without further warning, a purple spell flashed from Dagoth Gares' hand and struck Merlac's chest with enormous power. Though Merlac's cuirass absorbed most of the power, he still fell to the ground and almost broke his neck.

Merlac watched in horror as the cuirass cracked and started slowly turning into ash around him. He rose his hand again and started shooting every spell he knew against the ash vampire, who kept blocking everything with his bare hands while laughing like a madman.

Anger fled from Merlac's mind and panic replaced it. He had used every last spell he knew, but the wizard was still completely unharmed and started walking towards Merlac with his hands sparkling red. But Merlac rose up with his last powers, he would not die without a real fight. 

Merlac threw away the remainings of the destroyed cuirass and wielded the Vivec's longsword. In his mind he memorised the friend's soul spell, which brought warmth and happiness into his body, and took away the desperation. Merlac imagined his friends in Mage's guild around him, and touched the amulet hanging in his neck. Yellow shining shield appeared around him and the whole cave bathed in bright light. 

Dagoth Gares shot the red fireball against Merlac, but it was absorbed completely by the shield. Unfortunately, the shield vaporised after this shot and Merlac knew it wouldn't stop another strike, so he attacked. Not with anger, but with self-confidence, Merlac swung his longsword hit after another, forcing the ash vampire move back while blocking Merlac's hits with magical barriers.

At the same time as Dagoth Gares' back touched the wall behind him, Merlac turned quickly around, swung his sword, and stuck it right through the ash vampire's chest. Gares roared in rage, but his voice faded away ash his body dissolved into ash and his clothes fell into ground, empty.

Merlac sheathed his sword and leant to his knees, breathless. He had killed a very advanced dark wizard, but he knew how close to death he had been. Merlac was just about to turn around and walk to the door, as he heard crackling sound from the air. A thick, orange smoke rose from the ash vampire's clothes.

"What the…", Merlac started, but then the smoke suddenly charged towards him, surrounded him and no matter what Merlac did, it penetrated his nose and forced Merlac to breathe it. As the smoke vaporised, a loud, deep voice spoke from thin air.

"This foolish act shall not go unpunished, and the blessing of the Sixth House will be your curse, and follow you to your grave!", the voice echoed inside Merlac's head.

At first, Merlac didn't feel anything, but then in horror he realised it. The colour of his hands started turning patchy and he felt shooting pain in his neck. He walked to the shelves and took up a small mirror. Merlac stared at the mirror in horror, as he saw blisters appearing into his face and his eyes turning red. 

He had caught the corpus disease……


	13. Life at stake

****

Chapter Thirteen: Life at stake

Merlac had been arrogant. He had let his anger flow and it had now sealed his fate. The hatred had clouded his mind and he had paid a terrible price for that mistake. Corpus…the one and only disease in whole Morrowind which could not be cured.

Merlac looked at the mirror again. Bloody blisters covered his face and his back was starting to go deformed. What would it be like to change into a monster, a ruthless creature? Merlac was about to find out… but when? He had no idea how fast the disease would spread.

He sat on the cold, wet, stone floor. The effect of the friend's soul spell started to wear off, desperation returned. Merlac thought Milo…imagined her alone in a cold, stone prison, hoping for Merlac to rescue him. But Merlac had failed. Nobody would rescue Milo, nobody would be the one who rescues Morrowind….

"But…", Merlac said to himself. "But if I die, then I cannot be the one… so either I am not the Nerevar reborn, or I will not die!"

At first, Merlac didn't know what to think. If he really was the incarnation, he could not die, not just yet. There had to be a cure, there just had to be! 

"Caius! He will know what to do!", Merlac yelled alone in the cave. As he partly walked, partly ran through the stone tunnels, he wondered how he hadn't though of this before. He had come this far, it was wrong time to give up.

Finally, Merlac stumbled out of the dark cave into dim sunlight that tried to get its way through the thick fog. The rather cold air felt wonderful on the blisters on Merlac's face, as they had started to become painful. Merlac took a deep breathe and suddenly everything cleared out. It was those incenses in the cave which had caused the hatred in Merlac's mind. Those incenses had made him too self-confident and arrogant.

Merlac regretted his violent acts few minutes, but then he remembered that he didn't have any time to loose; he had to find Caius!

Luckily, Balmora was only few hours walk away from Gnaar Mok, as no human would have dared to come within 50 feet of him. The darkness of the night had already started to descend, as Merlac arrived to the walls of Balmora. He had left all his items, except the longsword and his clothes, to the swamp to lighten his burden.

While covering his face and hands with his clothes, Merlac knocked at Caius' door. Few guards were already glancing suspiciously at him. If they would notice what was matter with him, the city would probably go to complete panic. Luckily, Caius opened the door rather quickly.

"Who are you and what do you want?", Caius asked with impatient and tired voice.

"It's me, Merlac, please let me in!"

"Merlac, what… where is your armour? What has happened? Did you finish the sixth house -mission already?"

"I don't have time! Please, just let me in and I will explain!", Merlac moaned in worry.

Caius stepped aside and let Merlac come in. Merlac sat on Caius' bed and waited for his master to close the door.

"So what happe…", started Caius, but froze as he saw Merlac taking off the pieces of clothes covering his face. "Oh my god! What the hell has happened to you?", he groaned.

"Well master… I have some good news and some bad news. The good news are that I killed sixth house cultists inside the cave, including the Dagoth -family member who claimed to be an ash vampire."

"Ash vampire! What the hell? There hasn't been any ash vampires outside the ghostfence since the great war between the dwemer and the chimer, how could he…", Caius began, but Merlac interrupted him again.

"Please master, I don't have the time. The bad news is that the ash vampire had cursed himself somehow, and when I killed him, I caught the corpus disease…"

At this point Caius' face went extremely pale. He looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't know what, so he just opened and closed his mouth quietly, lookin horrified. Then he stood up from his chair and looked like he was about to look at Merlac closer, but then he just sat down, looking like he would like to leave the room as soon as possible.

"Oh my god…oh my god!", Caius repeated.

"Master, please. I have hard time enough without you looking at me like I were the ugliest thing you have seen before."

"Well… actually, you are. I'm sorry."

"Look, Caius… I know there is no cure to corpus, but… I was kind of hoping… there has to be a way! Can there be something that slows the disease down so that I can wait for a cure being found?"

Caius sighed and buried his face to his hands.

"Merlac, my dear apprentice Merlac… the leading wizards in Morrowind have tried to find a cure for corpus for over five hundred years, it is very unlikely they could find one in a matter of days!"

"But… I can't just give up! There has to be somebody who could help me!", Merlac moaned. "They can experiment on me and try to find the cure. Please, master… anything?"

Caius leant over his knees and stared at the wooden floor. After short time, he spoke again.

"Well… there is one person in Morrowind who might be able to help you… and I put the pressure on the word _might."_

"So tell me where can I find him! Hurry, I don't have any time to loose!", Merlac yelled.

"There is just one problem…", Caius sighed.

"And what is that, master?"

"He happens to be a Telvanni wizard."

"Oh… no, no, no… you mean…?"

"Yes, and that's not half of it. He is one of the oldest members of the Telvanni house and he hates Mage's guild's wizards more than anything."

"Great. Anything else I should know about?"

"Yes. He is one of those wizards who got their asses kicked in the South Wall Corner club some time ago, and I bet he remembers you, so I have a strong feeling he will throw you out of his house as soon as he sees you."

"Well, I believe I have no other choice, do I?"

"I'm afraid not. But… there is one thing that just might make him help you."

Caius walked to his desk of drawers, opened the bottom drawer and took out a small, black goblet.

"What is that?", asked Merlac.

"It's a very old dwemer goblet. The wizard who you must find is called Divayth Fyr and he is a famous collector of old dwemer artefacts. If you give this to him, and he does not have it already, he just might be willing to help you."

"But… master, this cup has to be worth of hundreds of septims! I can't take this."

"It's worth of over 50 000 septims, my friend, but I would be ready to spend a whole bag of those if it would save your life."

"Oh… master, thank you, thank you so much!", Merlac walked towards Caius and were just about to hug him, but Caius took a step backwards.

"I'm sorry Merlac, but I don't know how easily corpus infects, so just in case…"

"Oh, of course…"

"You should leave now. Travel only during night and don't let anyone see you like that."

"All right, master. But… how do I find this… who was he again?"

"Divayth Fyr, and you will find him in his own tower city of Tel Fyr, on a small island of Sadrith Mora. You have been in Sadrith Mora, haven't you?"

"Yes, master. The Telvanni tower is actually visible from Sadrith Mora during clear weather. So is there a bridge or something that leads to the island?"

"No, I'm afraid Telvanni wizards don't use bridges or boats. Their towers don't even have stairs. They just levitate all the time, so make sure you are rested when you levitate to the island, it's a long way to go."

"Yes, master, I will. I will go now, I hope to see you soon."

"Good luck, Merlac!", Caius yelled after him, but Merlac had already taken the goblet and ran to the dark streets of Balmora.

"Good luck, my friend… you're going to need it…", said Caius to himself and stared at the night sky, where the two moons of Tamriel slowly climbed up from the horizon.

***

Sadrith Mora was located on an island in the opposite coast of Vvardenfell, and because Merlac couldn't use any public transportation, it took him almost a week to get there, as he only travelled during night time, and hid himself during daylight. 

On the night of sixth day, Merlac arrived to the eastern coast of Vvardenfell. It was very dark and he was only barely able to see the Wolverine hall, a great stone tower of Sadrith Mora far away in the sea. As he moved his sight to right, he saw it; a weird-looking, high Telvanni tower pointing out from the fog.

Merlac closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, - as much as it was possible despite the growing pain in the blisters - and rose slowly from the ground. He opened his eyes again and started levitating slowly towards the tower island.

A bit before the halfway, Merlac landed on a small stone to rest. The distance was much longer and energy-consuming than he had first though. There was no way he could levitate to the tower, and there were no more resting-stones between him and the island. There had to be another way.

Merlac stood up again and decided to try another spell instead. He remembered the time when he was training with Ranis in the rived, but he hadn't practised water walking much since then.

He carefully touched the water surface with the tip of his shoe. It went all wet. Merlac looked back where he had come from, the coast was too far away, he could never levitate back there without having a good night sleep, which was impossible in that small stone.

Merlac decided to stare at the distant tower instead, and without thinking it much, he just started walking towards it. He heard the water squelching in his shoes, Merlac knew that if he would look down, he would fall and drown.

After a time that felt like an eternity, Merlac finally reached the tower island and as tired as dead, he collapsed on the beach. Merlac didn't know how long he had been lain there on the sand, but finally he stood up, still tired as hell, and started slowly walking towards the tower.

The Telvanni tower was like a gigantic tree, or a plant of some kind, whose leaves and branches surrounded it like walls. As Merlac reached the root of the tower, he realised there were no doors or windows on any side of the building. How could he get in? A password perhaps? Or a spell of some kind? Then, Merlac happened to look up, and then he saw it. Near the top of the tower, was a small wooden door, built on the middle of the tower and without any kind of stairs around it. He would have to levitate again.

Pain tore his body apart as Merlac used his last powers to reach the door, and finally literally just crashed through it. First he thought he had lost his consciousness, but then he heard a female voice speaking.

"Are you all right?", the kind voice asked. Merlac opened his eyes and saw a young, dunmer woman kneeled next to him. Another young woman behind them swung his hand and the broken door became solid again and filled the open hole in the wall.

"Yes…thanks… well, no… I'm not ok.", Merlac stuttered in exhaustion. "I need to talk with Divayth Fyr, please."

"We are two of Mr. Fyr's seven wives. I'm sorry, mister, but I'm afraid he won't be very willing to help anyone, especially an outlander at this time of night. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Well… no, I really must see Divayth, or I will most likely die…please, I beg you.", Merlac moaned.

The two wives looked each other and then one of them spoke to a third woman who was standing a bit farther away from Merlac.

"Daiah, quickly, go and wake Mr. Fyr, we will bring this poor man upstairs, hurry!"

The third woman touched her ring and vanished. The two other grabbed Merlac gently from his hands and started partly leading, partly dragging him towards a corridor.

"Now hang tight, mister, we must levitate now a bit. If you can, it would be nice if you helped us a bit.", said the other woman to Merlac.

Next to the wall, there was a large hole in the roof of the room. Gently, the two woman began to levitate and lifted Merlac with them through the hole to next room. The room was much smaller than the previous one and the numerous shelves in there were filled with colourful potions and herbs. 

Few seconds later, two people landed down from a hole in the roof next to Merlac and the two women. One of them was the third wife Merlac had seen, and the other was Divayth Fyr himself.

"YOU!", Divayth spat as soon as he saw Merlac. "Get out of my house, you worthless outlander, mage's guild's lousy scum!"

"Please, Divayth, please listen to me, you're my only hope!", Merlac moaned.

"I don't care whether you were the last person upon this island, I wouldn't help you!"

"But… please, I caught corpus, and I heard you might be able to help me…"

"Corpus?", said Fyr with a bit calmer voice but his face still as red as a boiled crab. "How the hell did you get corpus? And why, why in the name of Almsivi, do you presume ME, a great Telvanni wizard to help you, you filthy outlander?"

"All I can offer is my thanks…", Merlac started.

"Then I will throw you the hell out of here!"

"…and this.", Merlac continued, and took the dwemer goblet from his pocket and gave it to Fyr.

Fyr took the goblet from Merlac's hand with a bit surprised look on his face and examined the goblet carefully.

"But… oh my… this is… is it really? Well…", Fyr tried to hide his joy, but Merlac saw that the Telvanni wizard had something very unique in his hands.

"So… tell again, what do you ask in return for this…. this little cup of yours?"

"I ask you kindly to cure my corpus dis…disease.", Merlac stuttered. He knew he wouldn't live much longer, his hands were already almost numb and strange bumbs had started growing into his chest.

"Well, I believe you understand that I can't promise you anything, I do have a good potion to fight the corpus disease, but it has been tested with hundreds of corpus patients, and not one of them has survived, unless the potion was drank immediately after catching the disease, and you are already in very bad shape I'm afraid…"

"Please…", said Merlac with his last strength, as the blisters in his face had started bleeding badly.

The Telvanni wizard hesitated few seconds, but then started working.

"Daiah, give me that black bottle from the second shelf!", he yelled and carefully put the goblet to his table.

One of the wives ran to the shelf and took a small, black bottle which was filled with smoke-like liquid, and brought it to Divayth. Divayth kneeled next to Merlac.

"Now listen to me, Merlac, it is most likely that this will not work, and I won't lie to you if I say I will not be the one who is sorry if you die, but let's give it a try anyway, shall we?"

The wizard opened Merlac's mouth and carefully forced him to drink the bottle empty. Merlac coughed twice, and then fell unconscious. The women in the room stared in horror as Merlac threw up several times, and then his body felt motionless to the floor. Divayth touched his throat with his fingers.

"There is no hearth beat.", he said and lowered his ear near Merlac's mouth. "And he doesn't breathe."

The wizard waited for few more seconds and then stood up.

"He's dead. What a mess around here…", he said and glanced at Merlac, who was laying in his own puke.

Merlac knew he was dead. He wasn't able to breathe, his heart did not beat and his thoughts started fading away. Voices from the room had went silent long time ago and all he was able to hear was silence. But then there was a faint voice, like a whisper… a woman voice…

"Merlac…", the voice said. "Merlac…it is not yet your time to go… you must survive…. you must live… you have the strength… breather….BREATHE!", the voice echoed.

The wives of Divayth Fyr were about to carry Merlac's body away, as suddenly from thin air a lightning struck Merlac in his chest. The women stepped backwards in horror and Divayth turned around to see what had exploded.

Merlac's body started to wriggle and sparkle. A lightning struck him again, and again, and even a third more time. The whole room bathed in bright light as Merlac's body rose high above the floor and continued wriggling in the air, sparkling faster and faster. Suddenly, Merlac fell back to the floor and screamed as loud as he his lungs could. The same female voice spoke again, this time not inside Merlac's head, but somewhere in the room, but nobody saw anything.

"By the grace of Azura, the life of this mortal is spared, it is not yet his time to go. Breathe Merlac, breathe!"

Bolts of lightning struck again, but this time they came _from_ Merlac itself. Divayth's wives ran screaming away from the room and Fyr himself threw himself behind a large desk of drawers. The strokes of lightning struck faster and faster and the bottles started flying around the room like a hurricane. An enormous flash stuck the wall and ripped off entire wall from the room, revealing the sea and night sky outside the tower.

Finally, as fast as it had started, the storm ended hand the room became quiet again, except from the sound of sea outside. Merlac lied quiet on the floor, and finally opened his eyes. The blisters were gone and his hands looked normal again. Then, like if he had held his breathing for over a year, Merlac breathed and coughed. 

Merlac rose sitting on the floor and Divayth carefully peeped behind the half-burnt desk, stuttering something like "my tower…my beautiful potion collection!"

Merlac stood up and ran to Divayth. 

"It worked, it worked!!", screamed Merlac in joy and hugged Divayth, who was still staring at the enormous hole in the wall. "I'm alive, and all the blisters are gone! Oh I love you Divayth, I love you, I love Telvanni, how can I ever pay you?", Merlac said, but before Divayth was able to say anything about repairing the tower, Merlac had already jumped out from the hole and was running above the water, screaming and jumping.

"I'm alive, I'm alivee!", he yelled and ran towards the main island of Vvardenfell, as morning sun began to rise slowly above the horizon, bringing its orange glow around the still smoking Telvanni tower and the confused face of Divayth Fyr…


	14. The Rock

****

Chapter Fourteen: The Rock

Two days after meeting Divayth Fyr, Merlac saw the walls of Balmora again, the walls he hadn't believed to be able to see again. The journey back had been a lot faster as he was now able to use public transportation again. Merlac's mind was now as sunny as the weather in Balmora. He had just survived the one and only incurable disease in Morrowind, the corpus disease.

Merlac paid generously to silt strider caravaner and stepped down from giant insect's back. Again, like so many times before, he walked over the bridges leading to other side of the river which splits the city in two. He walked up the small hill, past the South Wall Corner club, to the street where Caius' house was in. When he reached the correct street, Merlac's face turned into smile, as he saw his master standing in his house doorway. 

Merlac silently walked behind Caius, who was standing in the doorway with his back facing Merlac. Merlac stood there quietly for few seconds and was just about to greet Caius and scare him to death, as he saw Caius was wearing travelling clothes and carrying a small bag in his back. He was leaving somewhere.

Before Merlac had time to do anything, Caius closed the door, locked it and turned around only to find Merlac standing only few inches in front of him.

"AAAAAAHH!!", Caius screamed with his face as white as a kwama egg. "Holy… what a… how… to the name of Almsivi DON'T DO THAT AGAIN, Merlac!", he yelled after trying to escape through the door and collapsing on the doorstep.

"I'm happy to see you too, master", Merlac grinned.

"You're…you're…", Caius stuttered.

"Cured", Merlac continued his words.

"But… how? I…I didn't expect to see you ever again!"

"I'm not sure whether it was the stuff Divayth forced me to drink, or the voice of Azura inside my head, but I'm now fully cured.", said Merlac while helping Caius stood up again.

"Can we go inside to talk, master? I haven't slept well since I caught the corpus over a week ago. You're going somewhere by the way?"

"Well… yes, of course, lets go inside.", Caius said, still sounding a bit confused and shocked.

Inside the house, Merlac saw that all chairs, desks and Caius' bed was gone, as well as all other items in the room. The whole house was completely… empty.

"What… what has happened?", asked Merlac, this time he was feeling confused."

"I'm so happy you're still alive!", said Caius and this time he hugged Merlac like if he hadn't seen this for years.

"Yes, yes master, thanks, but where are you going? Somewhere far away?"

Caius looked away looking a bit bothered.

"Well… you see Merlac, I was about to retire just before you came, to Vvardenfell I mean. I promised the emperor that this would be my last task in the Blades. No offence, my friend, but I didn't have much trust that you would return after you caught corpus…"

"Well I'm back now, master, you can't leave yet."

"Yes, but it's not that simple. Yesterday I got a letter from the capital of Imperial province, in the mainland of Tamriel."

"And? What did it say?"

"They are calling me back, back to Cyridil city. I must leave today."

"But… but master!", said Merlac. "You can't leave, not now, you have to help me find the lost prophecies and stuff…"

"Merlac, I can't win you in any kind of combat at all, you have travelled all around Vvardenfell and I have taught you everything I know. You can survive alone now, you must find your own path to become the Nerevar reborn."

"But…", started Merlac, but he knew his master was right. He would have to survive alone.

"I'm promoting you to fully qualified Blades Operative, Merlac. You report to no-one and I trust you will do fine in your path to become Nerevarine. I can also help you with one other thing…", Caius said with a blink in his eye.

"Milo!", Merlac breathed in joy.

"Your instincts serve you well, Merlac. Normally I wouldn't risk you in such a high-risk mission, but this time it's worth it. Milo is a member of the dissident priests, and the head priest promised that they will reveal their location to you if you rescue Milo from the prison in Vivec. You have this one chance to find those lost prophecies and take them to Urshilaku wise woman."

"Yes, master, tell me what I have to do.", said Merlac without hesitation. 

"Hehe, you don't have to call me master anymore, you're no longer in my command, remember?"

"Yes, mast… Caius", Merlac grinned.

"So, listen carefully, this is not going to be an easy task. I got a letter from another agent, with the codeword "amaya" in it. It says Milo has been taken to the prisons of Vivec without a trial. The prison is called _The Rock_."

"I've seen it", said Merlac. "It's the huge hovering rock above the ministry canton in Vivec, isn't it?"

"Yes, the ministry of truth is also located inside that huge rock, but most of it is filled with just prison cells."

"So I just get myself there are free Milo?"

"It's not that simple. The Rock is the safest prison in whole Tamriel, though it is very small compared to the prison where you grew up for example. I won't lie to you Merlac, but nobody, _nobody_ has every escaped from The Rock. And that's not all. You can't just rush in, stun everyone and rescue Milo, no."

"Why not?"

"Because then you're a criminal and it will make you journey to become Nerevarine much harder if you are wanted in whole Vvardenfell. That's why you will have to remain invisible."

"But how do I do that? I haven't practised invisibility of chameleon spells and…"

"No, those spells won't work up there. They have prepared for almost anything. But there is a way. You should be able to slip in using _these_.", said Caius and took black pants and a black shirt from his bag.

"Err… would you care to explain?", asked Merlac.

"These are the trousers of a spymaster. While you wear them, they will make you almost invisible for people who don't know about you and even people who are really looking for you, will have hard time while trying to keep you in front of their eyes. However, these will not make you walk silently, so if the guards hear you, they will lock up the whole prison and then you are in deep guar droppings."

"Ehm… isn't the whole prison locked up anyway, Caius?" 

"Well, it is a prison. It is meant to keep people _inside_, but its rather poorly protected against intruders from outside. Now, the first step is to get up there, the rock is higher in the air than it looks like from the ground. However, I believe you will have little trouble getting there now that you're cured. You should be able to levitate up there in matter of seconds."

"And then?"

"Most of the doors inside the prison are not locked, but the trouble is the outside door. Luckily, the Ordinator guarding the door is a Blades operative, so he will open the door for you. Then you must just go inside, find Milo and give her this."

Caius handed Merlac two small bottles of blue liquid from his bag.

"The other is for Milo and the other is for you. These potions should transport you both to Ebonheart, the small coast city near Vivec."

"Umm… should transport?"

"Well yes. Almsivi potions are not quite accurate and might as well transport you to different cities, so you will have to agree where to meet or something before you drink these in case one or both of them won't work properly. I would give you Almsivi amulets, but unfortunately I don't have any."

"So… this is it then?", asked Merlac.

Caius sighed. "Yes, I won't be here when you get back. The letter ordered me to report in Cyridil as soon as possible, I don't have any time to wait for your return. I wish you luck from my whole heart, though I believe you will not need it."

"Why not?"

"Heh, you just survived corpus, remember? I believe you will give those Ordinators some fun time."

They both laughed.

"Now go, save Milo, get the lost prophecies, become Nerevarine and do whatever his path leads you into."

"Yes, Caius. And I won't forget you, I owe you everything."

"No, Merlac. You owe me nothing. Now go, and save Morrowind."

Friends shook hands one last time, after which Merlac left the house for Vivec, knowing that when he would come back, _if_ he would come back, Caius wouldn't be there to welcome him anymore. He was alone now.

***

At the evening of the same day, Merlac stood in shadows in the ministry canton, looking up at the enormous rock hovering above him. He was wearing his previous master's pants and shirt, which seemed to work perfectly; no Ordinator or any other person had looked at him since he arrived to Vivec.

Merlac looked around one more time, making sure as few Ordinators were looking as possible. Most of the citizens had already went sleeping and the streets were half-empty. Merlac breathed slowly and lifted himself upwards. Slowly, carefully, he levitated upwards toward the Ministry of Truth, also known as _The Rock_.

He looked around while rising, no Ordinator in the ground had noticed him. Even if the clothing hadn't been magical, it would have still been rather hard to spot him, as he was dressed in black and the night was already painting dark shades to dark sky.

After about one minute of levitating, he finally reached the bottom stand outside the rock and silently landed on it. Merlac sneaked around the corned and found a door guarded by an Ordinator, who stood in perfect posture next to it. Hopefully this was the Blades operative Caius had mentioned.

"Hello there.", Merlac said quietly.

The Ordinator immediately wielded his long, shining skimitar and looked around ready for combat. 

"Who goes there?", the Ordinator yelled with clear voice.

"Shh, _nartum_.", Merlac whispered. Nartum was the codeword Caius had told him to use when meeting the operative.

The Ordinator looked around him few more times without seeing anything, then he walked to the door, took a small golden key from his belt and opened the door. 

"Go, fast!", the Ordinator whispered.

"Thanks", Merlac whispered back while slipping through the half-open door.

Merlac heard the Ordinator closing the door behind him. He was alone again. Merlac looked around, he was in a rock tunnel inside the prison. Fast, but as silently as possible, Merlac ran forward with a light shortsword in his right hand and stunning spell ready in the other.

Soon he reached a crossing in the tunnels. Three new tunnels led in three directions and in the middle of the crossing stood two Ordinators chatting with each other, but Merlac was also able to hear several different sounds of footsteps coming from the tunnels.

Merlac as silently as possible sneaked past the Ordinators to the middle corridor and he was just about to start running again, as something unexpected happened.

"Intruder!", somebody yelled behind Merlac. He jumped around and looked at the Ordinator who had yelled, he could not have seen him, he hadn't made a sound!

But this Ordinator had shining adamantium armour set, unlike the golden Ordinators, and he was pointing at his hand directly at Merlac.

"Intruder!", he yelled again, while other Ordinators wielded their weapons and looked for Merlac, but weren't able to see this.

"He has some kind of magically enchanted clothes! Quickly, drink these and you can see him!", the Ordinator yelled and threw small bottles to other Ordinators who drank them quickly. Merlac watched in horror as one after another the Ordinators looked at Merlac and ran after him. Alarm bells started ringing, _now_ he would be deep trouble…

Now he would have to fight his way to Milo, luckily the clothes were still hiding his identity. Merlac ran around the corner and found two more Ordinators, who immediately spotted him. It appeared all Ordinators were ordered to drink those potions if alarm is made.

Merlac stunned both Ordinators before they could even wield their skimitars and then blew up the thick wooden door between them and jumped through the smoking pieces of wood. On the other side of the door was a third Ordinator waiting for him with his skimitar already wielded.

"Your little trip ends here!", he yelled and attacked. Merlac repelled Ordinator's first attack with his shortsword but second hit from the shining skimitar smashed the much smaller sword into pieces. 

"All right then," said Merlac as he evaded Ordinator's skilful hits. "No more playing, it's time to find out whether you Ordinators are as good swordsmen as some people say!"

Merlac took out the longsword of Vivec and prepared to fight. It was impossible to say if there was any fearing look on Ordinator's face, but after one second of hesitation the Ordinator attacked again. With their swords clattering they fought in the dark stone corridor, as seven more Ordinators ran through the destroyed remainings of the door.

"Now this is a fair fight!", Merlac yelled to them. All eight Ordinators now charged with their skimitars against Merlac. 

Luckily Merlac's longsword was much longer than a skimitar and it was relatively easy to hold off the Ordinators at safe distance. Merlac swinged his longsword, forcing all Ordinators to evade backwards, and then shot several stunning bolts to the roof of the stone corridor and then jumped into safety as big pile of rock collapsed over the Ordinators.

The corridor was completely sealed, leaving all but one Ordinator on the other side of the rock pile. The last remaining Ordinator looked at the stone pile, then at Merlac and charged again.

"To the death!", he yelled.

"Wow, a professional fighter indeed", Merlac said to himself.

Merlac quickly hit the skimitar off from Ordinator's hand, tripped him to ground and put a leg on the Ordinator's chest.

"Now, tell me where you keep Mehra Milo!"

"I will tell you nothing!", the Ordinator spat.

Merlac lowered his sword at Ordinator's throat.

"Please, I'm just trying to free my friend and I would hate to kill you, where you keep Mehra Milo?"

The Ordinator hesitated few seconds but sighed then.

"She's in the cave at the end of this corridor, third cell from right."

"Thanks", Merlac said and ran away.

Soon Merlac indeed arrived to a large cave room which was filled with small rock cells… and Ordinators.

"There he is!", yelled the Ordinator closest to Merlac and all Ordinators in the room started running towards him.

"I have come to rescue her who is held here without a reason and you cannot stop me!"

Merlac shot stunning spells arbitrarily against the Ordinators and cleared his way towards the third cell from right by swinging his longsword. The Ordinators formed a circle around him, all skimitars pointed at him.

Merlac shot two spells at the cell door, but the door remained solid like it had just been cleaned.

"There is nowhere you can go now, surrender!", One of the Ordinators yelled.

"Milo!", Merlac yelled.

"Merlac? Merlac! Is it you?", a female voice from inside the cell screamed back. 

"Stand clear from the door, I'm coming in.", Merlac yelled back to her.

"Haha, there is no way you can destroy the cell doors by magic like you did in the corridors, surrender!", the Ordinator yelled again. The circle around Merlac had started walking towards him.

Merlac sheathed his sword.

"Ah, wise choice", said the Ordinator.

But Merlac had no intentions of surrendering. He pointed his both hands at the cell door and closed his eyes. The Ordinators stopped as Merlac's hands started glowing red and bright sparkles spread to all directions. All Ordinators took cover as enormous fireball emerged from Merlac's hands and struck the cell door with power that crushed the whole door into tiny smoking pieces, along with half of the stone wall of the cell.

Inside the remainings of the cell, sat frightened Milo. Merlac ran to her and gave her the Almsivi potion. 

"Quickly! Drink this, it leads you to safety! I will be right behind you.", Merlac said to her.

"Merlac, listen!", Milo whispered to his ear.

"There is no time!", Merlac yelled as the Ordinators stood up again and rushed towards them.

"You must listen", Milo insisted. "Holamayan, Merlac! Holamayan!", Milo whispered quietly but clearly into Merlac's ear and drank her bottle with one gulp. After this, she disappeared with bright flash in front of Merlac's eyes.

Merlac quickly drank his own bottle and disappeared as well, leaving about dozen very confused Ordinators wondering where they had teleported into…


	15. Companion

****

Chapter Fifteen: Companion

Merlac was sitting in a small bar in Vivec with a large bottle of Sujamma in front of him. He had opened the bottle, but hadn't yet started drinking. It had been almost three weeks since the teleportation potion had transported him to Ebonheart, the small imperial harbour city near Vivec, but unfortunately Milo was nowhere to be seen. Merlac was left alone with the mysterious name, Holamayan.

Merlac had browsed entire libraries through, trying to find out what place it was and where it would be situated. He hadn't even dared to ask anyone, as he didn't want wrong people to find out there would be something interesting in Holamayan and that Merlac was looking for it.

He pushed the bottle farther away from him, he had never been a drinker anyway. Merlac rose up, threw some septims for the barkeeper and walked outside. He walked through the almost empty bazaar hall to fresh, but rather warm night and leant over the canton's stone parapet.

Merlac was just about to continue wondering what to do next, when a cold, sharp dagger blade was pressed against his throat.

"Beautiful night, ain't it?", said a husky voice behind him. "I suppose such a well-dressed imperial also has a heavy moneybag, do you? And that sword of yours… I'll take that as well."

Merlac reckoned his chances; somehow this thug didn't give an impression of a professional thief, but on the other hand he could easily cut his throat before he would be able to pull out his sword. However, Merlac was not worried. He was tired. Maybe it was arrogance or something, but these kind of people just wasted his time.

Before Merlac managed to reply anything to the thief, the solution arrived from unexpected source.

"Drop it.", said a new, calm male voice behind him. Merlac felt the dagger to stop pressing his throat and drop clinking to ground.

Merlac turned carefully around and saw that the thief, a poor-looking middle-aged man, was standing with his hands risen, while another man, about the same age as Merlac, was pointing at the thief's throat with a short silver sword.

"You're ok?" then man asked Merlac.

"Yeah, thanks.", Merlac replied.

"Now guess what we're going to do to you.", said the man to the thief. "We're going to give you to nearest Ordinator that shows up, though those lazy, golden morons should already be here.", said the man with a bit of dislike in his voice, but Merlac wasn't sure if he pointed it at the thief or the ordinators.

But to Merlac's surprise, the thief began to smile calculatingly.

"I'm afraid I don't agree with you, boy.", said the thief.

Suddenly, three men came out of the shadows behind the thief and another two behind Merlac.

The man sheathed his silver sword and turned to Merlac.

"Just in curiosity, do you know how to fight?", he asked.

Merlac didn't say anything, but smiled and wielded his longsword. All six thieves also drew out their. The man looked at Merlac's long blade and nodded his head.

"Impressive.", he said and drew out a blood-red daedric longsword from his second sheath. "My name's Achen by the way.", he grinned.

"Take them!", the thief shouted.

The six thieves ran towards Merlac and Achen, who turned their backs against each other and intercepted the attacking criminals. They were cornered and badly outnumbered, but it soon became clear that the thieves were rather lousy fighters. Merlac had little trouble holding the three men who were attacking him, as his sword was much longer than theirs and they hesitated to come too close.

"Do you often help strangers in the night and then fight against superior odds?", shouted Merlac over the noises of battle.

"Yeah, almost every night. It keeps my thighs good looking.", Achen yelled back to him while hitting the sword out of one thief's hands and kicking him to chest.

Merlac and Achen quickly disarmed two more thieves, and the rest soon realised that they were about to be beaten hard, so they helped their mates back up and ran away around the corner of the canton.

"Cowards!", yelled Achen after them.

Then he turned towards Merlac again and gave a laugh.

"Ah, I wonder when was the last time I had that much fun!", he said. Merlac couldn't help himself and gave a laugh as well while sheathing his sword again.

"Thanks again. My name's Merlac."

"Don't mention it", said Achen, sheathed his sword as well and the two men shook hands. "I saw that thug follow you from the bar and decided to back you up, just in case."

"I could have handled him myself", grinned Merlac.

"And his five mates as well?"

"With my left hand if needed."

They both gave another laugh.

"Finally a man that has some sense of humour and knows how to fight as well. Nowadays it feels like you can't trust anyone in here, everyone is just after gold and reputation."

"Tell me about it", replied Merlac.

"Fine looking sword you got there, may I take a look at it?"

"Sure, show me yours in exchange, it was daedric, was it?"

"Heh, sharp eyes you got.", Achen grinned and the men changed swords.

Achen stared at the sword for few seconds and turned it around few times.

"I've seen this before.", he said finally.

"Are you sure?", asked Merlac while examining closely Achen's sword's handle.

"It's the longsword of Vivec himself, for the name of Almsivi where the hell did you get this from?", Achen said with astonishment in his voice.

Merlac rose his look and stared at him.

"How did you know that?"

"I saw this few months ago in a museum of unique artefacts in Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind."

Merlac hesitated for few seconds, but decided to tell Achen the full story. He told him about his attempt to become Nerevar reborn and how he had arrived to Vvardenfell in a slave ship few years ago.

As he finished his story about twenty minutes later while sitting in the bar again, this time with Achen, Merlac how stupid all this must have sounded and it would not be a surprise if Achen hadn't believed a word and accused Merlac of stealing the sword. But Achen listened the whole story with only few interrupts while asking something.

"Wow, another one who tries to become the incarnate…", said Achen finally.

"You know the prophecy?"

"The main parts… and to be honest, you are the most realistic candidate I've heard of."

"So you believe me?", asked Merlac.

"Yeah… I see no reason why you would have lied. I can usually tell from people whether they are lying or not from the way they speak, it's a gift."

Achen took a short gulp from his bottle and spoke again.

"So what are you going to do next?"

Merlac sighed.

"I'm not sure. I have to find the lost prophecies and take them to the wise woman of an ashlander tribe and then she will tell me whether I'm the one or not."

"So what's the problem?"

"Well, few weeks ago I paid a visit to that floating rock above the ministry canton, but unluckily the only person who could have led me to the prophecies didn't appear at the same place as I did, after using teleportation potions I mean."

"That was you? Heh, I heard the alarm horns howling all the way to foreign quarter. It's unbelievable that you actually got out of there… or even got _inside_!"

"Well, one's got to do what one's got to do", grinned Merlac.

Merlac was just about to ask Achen about Holamayan, but then he remembered he did not know how he would react in case he worked for the Tribunal temple or something.

"So… how do you feel about temple… generally?", asked Merlac instead, trying to sound indifferent.

"I used to believe in them.", said Achen. "But then they started making foolish declarations, like banning the Nerevar prophecy. Not even Ordinators are as incorruptible as they used to be…"

Merlac decided to give it a try.

"Umm… Achen."

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't happen to know a place called Holamayan, would you?"

Achen first stared Merlac for few seconds and then looked at his bottle, looking pensive.

"I've heard that name somewhere… I think a small island in the south-east coast of Vvardenfell was called that in an old children's book I saw in a book store long time ago… not sure though, could have as well been Holmaren or Homyon."

Merlac didn't know what to say for a short time, though this was only a guess, it was the best clue he had.

"What do you know about that island, Achen?"

"Well… if I remember right, it was rumoured to be a secret place for those who believed in a different way than the others, a place that would be protected by Azura."

"That's it! That must be the Holamayan!", yelled Merlac, making Achen jump on his chair. "That is the place where Milo must have gone, it must be the secret monastery of the dissident priests."

"That would fit in the story of the book. So is that where you're heading for next?"

"Yes, but I need a guide. Would you be interested in joining me? I might have a dangerous path ahead of me and I could always use company…", grinned Merlac.

"Well, I know someone in Ebonheart who could borrow us a boat…"

"Is it a deal then?"

Achen scratched his ear.

"Is there going to be a payment of any kind?", he asked.

"Nope, not even a single septim."

"Will there be lots of dangers?"

"Absolutely."

"Even death?"

"Maybe, who knows."

"Count me in, mate!"

The two companions shook hands, laughed and drank for their shared journey


	16. The Secret Monastery

****

Chapter Sixteen: The Secret Monastery

Merlac and Achen spend their night in a room of a small cornerclub in Vivec. After only few hours of sleep, they paid the host for the room and left together towards Ebonheart. At the time of sunrise, Merlac walked through the large stone gate of Ebonheart and glanced at the enormous dragon statue in front of him.

"So, you said something about a boat."

"Yeah, let's head for the eastern docks.", said Achen.

Though it was just an early morning, the docks were already full of merchant ships from the mainland and other harbour cities in Vvardenfell. Achen led them to a long wooden wharf which swung slowly as they walked along it. On the right side of the wharf a large merchant ship was unloading its cargo, barrels full of spices and booze. 

As Achen didn't walk in the merchant ship, but continued towards the empty end of the wharf, Merlac began to wonder.

"Umm… I can't see any more ships docked at this wharf… where are you going?"

As Achen did not answer, Merlac was just about to ask again, as he saw a very small wooden ship with its sails lowered appearing behind the large merchant ship.

"Ahoi there!", Achen yelled to a woman sitting in the boat, tying a small bag of fish.

"Ah, it's you Achen. How are you?", the woman replied with smile.

"Fine thanks."

"What brings you here?"

"Well, actually I've come to ask for a small favour. Could you be so kind that you borrow us your boat for one day?"

"Oh… sure, where are you heading?"

Achen hesitated for a second and then interpreted right the look on Merlac's face.

"Umm… I'm sorry but we would like to keep our destination in secret."

The woman looked a bit confused, but before she was able to say anything Achen interrupted her again.

"…and we can't take you with us I'm afraid. Just the boat."

"Well, I guess it's ok, but just for this one time, and make sure I get my boat back without a scratch, not like last time!"

Merlac glanced Achen with a suspicious look, but he just grinned.

"Don't ask, a long story", he whispered to Merlac.

Merlac and Achen helped the woman to unload her fishnets and bags out of the boat and then set sail towards the sea. They followed the coastline to east, until around noon they arrived to a small archipelago.

"So", began Merlac. "Where is that island of yours?"

"Well, we passed Tel Branora's cape about two hours ago, so according to that book, we should now head north and look for an island directly east from Mount Assaruiibibi."

"Not very precise instructions, are they?", sighed Merlac.

"Don't worry, we'll find it."

All afternoon Merlac and Achen spent exploring islands in the Vvardenfell's coast. The day had already began to darken, as they went ashore to a medium-sized island with a small hill on it.

"This has to be it, all other islands are too far away from Mount Assaruiibibi."

"Let's hope for the best.", replied Achen without much hope in his voice.

They stepped out of the boat and looked around.

"Ok, circle around the island from right and I go to left.", said Merlac.

"Umm… no.", replied Achen. 

"And why is that?", asked Merlac, turning towards him.

"Because there is a stone stairway leading up the hill ahead of us."

Merlac turned towards the hill and looked up. For few moments he couldn't see anything, but then he noticed it. There was indeed a half-buried stone stairway all the way up.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, exhausted, they saw a small, wooden door sunken in the hill's side.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Try it.", said Achen. 

Merlac carefully walked to the door, put his hand to the rusty handle, and pulled. Nothing happened.

Just when Merlac was about to try to break the lock with a magic, a loud female voice echoed around then, without any certain source.

__

"The door is locked, and will not open. The star is the key"

Merlac and Achen stood quiet and waited for more instructions, but the voice didn't say anything anymore.

"What was that supposed to mean?", asked Achen, sounding confused. 

"This is the right place. That was the voice of Azura."

"Azura? Nice friends you've got. So what about the riddle about the star?"

"No idea."

As they didn't know what to do, Merlac and Achen set up a camp outside the doorway. As the night came, they were lying on their backs, watching the night sky.

"I've never been good in riddles.", said Achen.

Merlac sighed and stared at the black sky, as first stars began to appear and the moon of Tamriel slowly rose above the horizon.

"The star is the key…", muttered Merlac to himself.

"What if you just take one from the sky and stuck it up to the door's lock?", joked Achen.

Merlac gave a laugh but then the look on his face went pale.

"The star…the star! That's it!", yelled Merlac in joy, while jumping up so fast that Achen was almost scared to death.

"What?", asked Achen.

"This just might work!", said Merlac and walked to the door, closely followed by Achen. 

"What might?", Achen asked again, sounding very confused.

"The star is the key. Perhaps it doesn't mean we need a star as a normal key, but that the door will only open while the stars are visible."

Merlac carefully put his hand to the rusty handle again, gave a short look at Achen, and pulled.

This time the door opened so easily that Merlac startled a bit. The female voice echoed loudly in the air again.

__

"In the dawn hour, under Azura's star, the door is now opened."

Merlac and Achen quickly lighted their torches and walked inside a stone corridor, leading downwards deeper inside the hill. There were several fresh footprints in the dusty floor, so this place was clearly actively used, but still neither of them drew out their swords.

Soon they arrived to a warm, homely, room filled with bookshelves, a large fireplace and three corridors leading to different directions.

"What weird place is this?", whispered Achen.

Suddenly a giggling happy female voice screamed from one of the corridors and Milo ran towards them. Achen was about to draw out his sword, but froze as he saw the woman hugging the startled Merlac.

"You found here, you finally found your way here!", Milo yelled in joy.

"Great to see you too, Milo", said Merlac. "But next time you should give a bit better advice."

Milo giggled again. 

"So, what is this place anyway?", asked Achen.

"It's the headquarters of the dissident priests, the ancient monastery of Holamayan", said a male voice behind them.

Another woman and a rather old man appeared from the same corridor as Milo.

"And you must be Merlac", the man continued, looking towards Merlac. Merlac nodded.

"I offer my thanks for rescuing my young priestess, Milo. And now you have come to seek for the lost prophecies, yes?"

"Yes, have you found them?", asked Merlac.

"I have.", the old priest said. The woman next to him handed Merlac two very old scrolls, who accepted them carefully.

"Take these to the Ashlander wise woman and find out the truth whether you are the one or not. For the sake of us all, for the sake of whole Morrowind, we hope you are the one."

Merlac started at the scrolls in his hands for a moment and then looked at the old priest.

"What if I'm not?"

"Then…I'm afraid, Dagoth Ur has already won."

Slowly, the skies of Morrowind darkened and the rest of the stars became visible, covering already depressed minds under its heavy burden…


	17. Achen Part one

****

Chapter Seventeen: Achen - Part One

Though the Dissident priests had offered Merlac and Achen shelter for the night, the two companions preferred to sleep in the wilderness. Merlac was sitting on a nearby hill, watching for predators. It was Achen's turn to sleep, but he wasn't tired.

Achen took a deep breath and watched the clear night sky of Vvardenfell though the flames of their campfire. The wind was calm and the night warm. Achen wondered when would be the next time to have a good night's sleep. Merlac had once again found his path to become the reborn general Nerevar, and Achen felt it was his responsibility to either help his companion in this quest, or die trying.

Achen turned his eyes away from the fire. The grip of his sword glittered faintly in the starlight. a daedric longsword. almost any daedric item would be worth killing somebody, but a sword with long blade in good condition. Achen had a good reason to be proud. Of course Merlac had his own one-handed longsword, the true blade of Vivec himself, but Achen's sword wasn't a present, he had found it himself.

The campfire continued to crackle quietly, as Achen started dreaming and memorizing.

---

"OPEN THE DOOR, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!!!"

Achen woke up startled.

"You piece of guar excrement, OPEN THE DOOR I SAID!"

It took Achen few seconds to realise that someone was at the door and if he didn't open it really soon, this clearly angry person would smash the whole door if he had to.

Achen stood up from the chair he had been sleeping on and looked around him. A small, Hlaalu-styled room with a small table, two chairs, a rusty workbench in the corner and narrow staircase in the other side of the room. And a slightly oblique door, where the yelling male voice came from.

"You have exactly 10 seconds, TEN SECONDS I TELL YOU, to open this door, or I will call the guards and declare you an outlaw!"

In no hurry, Achen lazily walked to the door - wearing only his dusty pants - and opened it, trying to look as bored as possible.

The opening door revealed bright sunlight and Achen had to cover his still-tired eyes. As soon as he saw again, he noticed an extremely angry, yelling little wood elf in front of him.

"Finally! Have you any idea what time is it? It's NOON! Do you remember when you promised to pay the rent of this house? THREE WEEKS AGO! If I knew even the most simplest spell in Tamriel, I would immedi."

Achen yawned and interrupted the raging wood-elf by walking right past him. He walked down the short stairs and opened his mailbox.

"Crap, still nothing", Achen said to himself.

"EXACTLY!", the wood-elf screamed. "NOTHING! You haven't had a single job since last Evening star and you have no money at all! But guess what, either you give me your rent money RIGHT NOW, or I WILL call up the guards!"

"Relax, Tuff", Achen said, finally turning his attention towards the elf. "How about you give me one more week time to pay my debts?"

"A WEEK? That is absolutely out of question! I already gave you three!"

"Thanks Tuff, I love you too!", Achen said and closed the door again in front of the elf.

Achen sat back into his chair. Though he gave the impression he was bored and everything was irrelevant, he was very nervous. Two months ago he had started a one-man's mercenary service and rent a house from Caledra. The idea was good, but there just weren't enough well-paying jobs to cover the rent and food. Occasionally some villager came and asked Achen to kill some rats from their basement and stuff, but most of the days he spent just by sitting and waiting.

Achen stood up again and walked to the closed wooden window. He put his hand to the handle and was just about to open the window, when a big, rusty nail smashed through the wooden frame, right between his fingers.

He took a step backwards and watched as three more nails smashed through the clay wall. Achen put on his dusty shirt and ran outside. Behind the corner he found an imperial soldier hammering an official note to his house's wall.

"What the hell are you doing? Those nails almost smashed through my hand!"

"I'm on a official business of the Imperial legions, so... bad luck for you", said the guard, gave a laugh, put his hammer back to his belt and walked away.

Raging Achen tore the piece of paper from his wall and was just about to throw it away, as his eyes caught the topic.

"Mercenaries needed for a dangerous job - Reward 6000 septims if successful"

Achen scrolled open the rest of the note and began to read eagerly.

"The Imperial legions are looking volunteers for an extremely dangerous one-time assignment. The job includes fighting against the undead, so an enchanted weapon is mandatory. Unexperienced adventurers don't bother. Everyone who is interested, please contact officer Kingsley in the fort Moonmoth."

This was exaclty what Achen had been hoping for; a well-paying one-time job. Five minutes later he was fully dressed and closed the door of his house. It would be just a half-hour-walk to Balmora and from there to fort Moonmoth. Achen's luck was finally getting better...

---

"So I get the job?", asked Achen anxiously while walking behind an imperial officer though a narrow stone corridor deep below fort Moonmoth.

"I didn't say that yet", replied the officer. "You will be tested first, like the other adventurers who applied for this assignment."

"So this is a some kind of competition?", asked Achen and almost hit a stone wall as the officer suddenly walked around a corner.

"I would call it more like surviving, as you will not be the only one who will be chosen."

"But... hey, whoa, I usually work alone! I don't want some big-headed fools as my burden!"

The officer gave a laugh.

"Heh, I'm afraid the mission requires more than one man, no matter how good you are."

"Hmh. So what is the test?"

The officer had arrived to a strong, wooden door, opened it and walked to a larger room. When he answered to Achen's question, he spoke to the whole room.

"All right, everyone listen up. I'm a busy man so let's get through this quickly. Here's the deal; everyone who likes to take part in this rather well-paying assignment, will go into that large prison cell.", the officer said and pointed at a large, chained, metallic door on his right. "Once you're all inside, the door will be closed and we will release some...aggressive animals to threaten you. Your goal is to kill all the animals, and once they're all dead, those who are still alive and in good condition, will be chosen to this job. Any questions?"

Achen's eyes looked each competitor in that room. There were seven of them, plus Achen himself of course, three men, one male aragornian and three women.

"This is sick!", said one of the women. "I will not go into that room to kill some lousy rats, I came here because I thought this would include some serious action!"

Achen noticed that two of the men gave a quiet laugh and grinned to each other.

"Of course we can't force anyone", said the imperial officer. "Everyone is free to leave, but once you're inside the cage, you will not come out until all the animals are dead. Simple as that. Now...anyone wants to quit now?"

Achen and nine other adventurers glared at each other for a short time. Finally, the women who had spoken previously, snorted and walked out of the room.

"One gone, six to go...", said Achen to himself.

"All right", said the officer. "Now, if anyone else isn't going to quit, we'll get started. Everyone leave your personal weapons to this table and take these daggers." The officer handed each of the competitors an imperial dagger in not very good shape.

Achen undressed his sword sheath slowly so he had an opportunity to take a quick look at the others while they one by one stepped inside the cage. The first of the two remaining women was a tall, strong-handed and serious-looking. Actually, Achen noticed to his horror that this woman was much longer than himself, even though he was rather tall himself as well.

The other woman was much younger, much smaller, and to Achen's joy even pretty cute. A quick glance to her weapons and Achen saw this girl was carrying a small crossbow outside her backpack.

Next one to walk into the cage was a rather old man. Though he could have been easily twice as old as Achen, the look on his face wasn't tired. Just behind the old man came the second one, a much younger imperial. Achen wasn't sure why, but this quiet young man looked somehow suspicious.

The aragornian - the only non-human in the group - looked around him looking a bit nervous, but eventually he walked past Achen and into the cage. The last one left was a strong-looking man with long, blond hair and short black beard. As he walked past Achen, he stopped for a second to look at him, but soon followed the aragornian. Achen saw that he was the last one in the room, except for the imperial officer, and walked inside the cage as well.

Inside the cage Achen turned around and saw the officer close and lock the large door behind them. The officer spoke through a small metal hatch in the door.

"Okay, everyone is in. Good luck you all, hopefully you don't all die..."

The metal hatch closed with a loud clink, leaving the seven adventurers to a rather dark, large room.

Achen started walking around and looking at the room's corners. In every corner, there were a large corridor sealed by a metal hatch. As he walked near the corner next to him, he heard yelling from the other side of the room. One of the hatches had opened and the other competitors were facing it with their daggers ready.

Achen took out his own dagger as well, as four enormous kagoutis ran to the room from the open hatch. Three of them hesitated a bit and stopped in front of the competitors, growling. The fourth kagouti made a screaming noise and jumped at the old man. The man was too slow to react and the animal jumped against him, striking its huge teeth on the old man's leg.

The old man screamed in pain as the kagouti swinged him right and left, while red blood squirted around the cage. The three other kagoutis were encouraged by this and also attached the other competitors. The smaller woman threw her dagger at the nearest kagouti and hit it right to its forehead. The animal gave a howl and crushed to the stone floor inanimate.

To Achen's surprise, the big man was laughing, threw away his dagger and jumped against the biggest kagouti, yelling like a madman. The kagouti was clearly surprised of this act, and tried to evade while the big man crabbed the large animal between his strong arms and started squeezing. The animal was trying to get off the man's hands, but this just kept laughing and cracked the kagouti's neck.

While Achen had been watching this show, one kagouti had ran to him and jumped with its mouth open. Achen saw it coming from the corner of his eyes and evaded at the last possible moment, while striking the kagouti with his dagger. The rusty dagger broke as it struck the animal, but it seemed to hurt it anyway, as the kagouti gave a loud shriek and run back to the corridor in the room's corner.

As Achen rose up, he saw that the tall woman and the suspicious young man had together killed the third kagouti and were now threatening the fourth, which still had piece of the old man's leg in its mouth. The old man was lying on the floor with his throat ripped open, clearly dead.

The young man made a fake attack which distracted the kagouti, allowing the tall woman to attack. The animal tried to evade but the woman quickly sliced its throat open, leaving it to die on the stone floor.

"That was easy", the tall woman said and gave an arrogant laugh.

"I don't think it's over yet", said Achen.

"I agree, that was too easy", said the big man with low voice.

Like an answer, the hatch on the opposite corner opened. The big man took up his dagger from the ground and Achen threw away his broken one and replaced it with the one on the hand of the dead old man.

The aragornian, who had stayed quiet behind the others so far, made a loud scream and ran to the room's door screaming.

"You know the rules, nobody comes out before the animals are dead!", said the officer's voice behind the door.

The five others ignored the aragornian and prepared to fight whatever would come through that hatch. Soon Achen started hearing loud breathing from the corridor, strong like a storm wind.

"What is it?", asked the suspicious young man quietly.

"Oh crap...", said Achen, who well knew what monster was walking in the corridor, only one creature would breathe like that.

Slowly, a huge figure of a large, grey ogrim sauntered from the corridor, breathing heavily and looking around him.

"Umm... if this is the test-part, I'm beginning to wonder if I want the real job anymore...", said Achen.

The ogrim noticed the adventurers and made an unbelievable roar, which filled the large stone room. The giant hit the floor with its huge fist, trying to hit the young woman, who luckily was too fast for the ogrims slow reactions.

"How the hell are we going to kill that with few rusty daggers?", yelled the young man.

"Maybe you can crack his neck as well", joked Achen to the big man who had killed the largest kagouti.

The aragornian kept screaming and banging the door twice as hard. Ogrim noticed the screaming lizard and rushed through the scared adventurers, accidentally hitting the tall woman with his fist. The woman was struck to the ground due to the power of the strike, and from the way she held her left arm, Achen knew it was broken.

The aragornian banged the door few more times before the ogrim grabbed the lizard-man into his giant fist and snapped his spine. The aragornian kept whining quietly as the giant ripped his body literally into pieces. Achen was starting to feel sick from all that blood.

Suddenly, the ogrim started coughing and waving his head around. Eventually, its huge body fell to the ground and gave its last breath. The five adventurers stared at the enormous body. Then Achen saw it; a large, sharp, broken bone was sticking out of the ogrim's throat.

"It choked into his meal... thank Almsivi that ogrims are as stupid as they look.", laughed the big man.

Suddenly the room's door opened and the imperial officer stepped in.

"Ah, great work, great work.", the officer said.

"Umm... what about the two remaining hatches?", asked Achen.

"Don't worry about those, they only contained rats and stuff like that, the previous adventurers who applied for this job already killed those.", the officer said smiling.

"So... we won?", asked the young man.

"Oh no, not yet. You four just got the job, after it's finished then you will get your money."

"Four...what do you mean with four? There are five of us.", said the tall woman, who was still holding her hand in a weird angle.

"You're injured, I'm afraid you cant join the others, you would just be a burden to them.", said the officer.

"Can we now hear what the job is about?", asked the young man impatiently.

"Ah, certainly! Come with me.", said the officer and turned around.

---

Few minutes later, the four adventurers and the officer were sitting around a round, wooden table.

"All right, look at this.", said the officer and opened a small map. "This is the map of the southern sea surrounding Vvardenfell, and that smallish piece of land in the middle of it is the island of fort Firemoth."

"You mean that new imperial fort that was captured by Dremora Lord called Ogon and his army of skeletons some months ago?", asked Achen.

"Yes the very same fort. Despite the numerous attempts on re-capturing the fort, we still haven't managed to kill the daedra lord himself, and as long as he summons more skeletons there is nothing we can do. We can't sacrifice any more loyal soldiers, the fort isn't that important."

"But you are willing to send four poor adventurers to do the job for you?", asked the big man sarcastically.

"Exactly. We believe that a small group of fighters should be able to sneak into the fort, move to the underground levels, find the dremora lord and kill him. The imperial legions will loan you some enchanted swords and arrows so you can return the creature back to oblivion, but don't try to run away and sell them or anything, because they all are marked with imperial seals."

"So we go in, kill the dremora lord, come back and get our money?", the young girl asked.

"Exaclty."

"When do we leave?", asked Achen.

"As soon as you're rested."

The sun slowly landed in the horizon and the night surrounded the Moonmoth fort...


	18. Achen Part two

****

Chapter Seventeen: Achen - Part Two

It was midnight, when Achen and his three companions arrived to the Firemoth's island. The imperial soldier, who had brought them by boat, quietly left back to the mainland. There were hardly any moonlight, so the adventurers could sneak into the fort undetected.

The four companions kneeled behind a large rock to read the map of the small, ring-like island.

"So what's the plan? I'm Achen by the way.", asked Achen.

The big man snorted and looked at the map again.

"No need for us to introduce ourselves, as most of us probably wont live to the end of this quest. And when it comes to the plan, I suggest we use the front door and smash some skulls!"

Achen sighed.

"My name is Tilya.", said the young woman with a crossbow in her hands.

"Ah, my name is Altachen Monn, but everyone call me just Achen", Achen said and smiled to the girl. "...and you might want to put away that crossbow, it might be a bit difficult to hit skeletons with it and we don't want to waste our enchanted arrows. Let's save them for the Dremora Lord, shall we?"

The girl nodded and put the crossbow to his back and took an enchanted silver shortsword from her belt instead.

"Okay, and you?", said Achen and nodded at the quiet young man. The man hesitated for a second until he spoke.

"Ranee."

"Just Ranee? Oh... well never mind then.", said Achen and gave up on getting known with these people. "Here's my plan; we sneak along the shoreline undetected to the eastern guard tower. Now, as far as I know, the forts in Vvardenfell are somewhat similar, so there should be a corridor from the tower's basement to the main building in the middle of the courtyard. We eliminate the few skeletons in the tower, move to the keep, find a staircase to the lower levels and kill the dremora. Any questions?"

The big man snorted again but didn't say anything

"All right then, let's go!"

The four companions quietly walked along the coastline for almost an hour, until they finally reached a small hill near the fort.

"Well look at that", said Achen as the group kneeled behind some bushes and looked at the open field in front of the fort's walls. Though it was very quiet, with the exception of sea around them, one could hear very few sounds from the field though it was full of movement.

"Looks like there are many of them... at least two hundred.", said Achen, as he stared at the large formation of skeleton soldiers in the field.

"More, I'd say over three hundred.", said the big man.

"It's good we didn't use the front door", grinned Achen.

"There's the watch tower", said Tilya and pointed at the high structure near the waterline.

The group sneaked closer to the tower and kneeled again behind another rock.

"Two skeletons around the tower's door.", said Achen.

"No, there is a third one about five meters to the left, behind that bush.", said the young man quietly.

"Let's charge!", the big man said and was about to rise up and run to the tower, but Achen pulled him back.

"No! Let's try something else."

Achen took a rock size of his fist from the ground, aimed and threw it at the nearest skeleton. The rock smashed against it's evil-looking skull and crushed it. The skeleton, however, didn't die, but took a iron saber from a sheath hanging around its hilt. The skeleton waved from side to another, trying to find something to hit, but it didn't see anything as its skull was in pieces on the ground. The two other skeletons wielded their sabers as well and ran towards Achen.

"Ok, now it's your turn!"

The big man jumped from behind the rock and charged against the skeletons. As his magically enchanted sword struck the first skeleton in the stomach, the whole creature started sparkling blue and the shock fried the rotten bones. Two seconds later the battle was over and the others rose up and looked at the three inanimate skeleton remainings in the ground.

"All right then, let's go inside.", grinned Achen.

The companions "cleaned" the guard tower rather quickly and like Achen had presumed, there indeed was a corridor connecting the tower and the main building of the fort. For the next two hours, the group moved deeper to the keep's underground levels while evading most of the skeleton patrols and killing the rest. Eventually they arrived to a strange section of the cellars that didn't look like the rest of the fort.

"This is not architecture of imperial forts", said Tilya, as they walked along a dark corridor decorated with blood-red torches and black carpets.

"I agree, we must be close to the dremora lord's throne room, be careful everyone,", said Achen.

Soon they arrived to the end of the corridor and found a large, black door, decorated with two large burning torches.

"This must be it, all right, what now?"

"I say we just rush in.", the big man whispered.

"I have to admit I don't have a better idea", Achen agreed.

The young woman and the quiet man nodded as well.

"Okay then, let's knock the door, stand aside."

Achen and the big man counted to three together and kicked the door open. Tilya took his crossbow and they all rushed in.

The room where they had entered was quite impressing. It was very large, decorated with thick stone pillars, flaming torches and in the middle of the room stood an enormous rock statue, who's knees were higher than where Achen could reach. Between the statue's legs, stood a large wooden throne and in front of it the Dremora Lord Ogon himself.

Achen and the others stopped in the middle of the room and listened to the deep, cold, rasping sound of breathing of this daedra. First Achen thought it had a helmet, but then he realised it was this creature's own face. The smooth, dark colours of red and black in the daedra's face joined seamlessly to the forms of his full daedric armour set. Unlike the pieces of daedric armour found on daedric shrines, this one was scratches and shiny.

"Whoa, that is some beautiful cuirass!", marvelled Achen.

Ogon slowly opened his eyes and looked at the four intruders.

"Ok, time to act!", yelled Achen and rose his sword. Tilya aimed with her crossbow and shot a magically enchanted bow at the daedra. Ogon didn't even blink his eyes, as the wooden arrow smashed to pieces against the cuirass just where human heart was normally situated. Some weak magical flames sparkled from the wooden pieces, but the armour was left scratchless

The young man took a small, poisoned throwing star and threw it. The star rebounded from Ogon's right gauntlet and sunk to a stone pillar next to him. Ogon pointed at the adventurers with his palm and made a scream of shooting pain.

"Err... hit the deck!", yelled Achen and jumped behind a pillar, as a large fireball flew past him. The magic hit the already broken door and exploded it to burning pieces.

Achen looked around. Himself and the young man were behind the same pillar, and Tilya and the big man were behind another one on the other side of the room. He cursed as another fireball struck the pillar and hot pieces of rock rained to his neck.

On the other side of the room Tilya was setting up a steel arrow into her crossbow, while the big man took a heavy war axe from his back. Tilya peeped from behind the pillar, aimed again and shot the steel arrow right into the non-armoured spot in the dremora's armpit. Ogon roared in rage, but the big man yelled almost as loud as he jumped up and ran towards the dremora with his war axe above his head.

A yellow light flashed in the dremora's hand and Achen watched in horror as a black, daedric longsword was summoned from thin air, right into Ogon's open hand. Ogon swinged the blade swiftly and cut the big man's leg into two right above the knee. Man's axe missed the dremora just by few inches and smashed the wooden throne.

Achen saw Tilya watching with her face pale, as the big man moaned in pain while his leg squirted blood over him. Ogon's sword didn't even stop moving as the dremora waved it upwards and then struck it through the man's chest. The big man stopped yelling and became motionless.

"Ah well, this day didn't start well anyway", Achen cursed to himself and stepped out behind the pillar.

He waited until Tilya had shot another arrow to Ogon's chest armour and attacked. Achen's sword was much shorter than Ogon's longsword and the daedric metal bit a deep scratch to Achen's blade each time they struck together.

"His armour is too strong, my arrows won't go through!", yelled Tilya to Achen through the sounds of duel.

"Yeah, I noticed, and he is cutting my sword to inch-long pieces!", Achen yelled back and evaded another raging hit.

"Not good!", Achen yelled as Ogon struck the remainings of his sword away from his hand and pointed at the weaponless adventurer with his sparkling palm. Once again a flaming fireball flashed out of Ogon's armoured hand and Achen hit the dirt to evade it. The fireball struck the already damaged stone pillar behind them.

"Look out!", Tilya screamed and Achen rolled out of the way as the huge pillar started collapsing and crushed right where he had stood a second ago. When the dust settled, Achen saw the remainings of smashed daedric cuirass under the broken pillar.

"Huh, that was a bit too close, wasn't it?", Achen said and gave a laugh.

"Mhff!!"

"What did you say? I didn't quite get that one", Achen asked and turned towards Tilya. There was a bloody dagger sticking through her stomach and a dirty hand covered her mouth. The young man behind him released her and the motionless body fell to the floor.

Achen stared at the girl's bloody body and then the young man who was grinning like a madman.

"What the hell... why... you... you bastard!"

"Now I just kill you and the price is all mine!", the young man laughed and grabbed Tilya's armed crossbow.

"You... you idiot!", Achen was able to say while walking backwards and staring at the crossbow which was aimed at his head.

Achen's back stopped at the broken stone pillar and the young man's finger started squeezing the crossbow's trigger. Achen was about to start panicing as his right hand touched something cold, something metal, and he knew what it was. It was the daedric longsword that Ogon had summoned. This was his last chance. Achen's fingers slowly and carefully grabbed the hilt of the sword.

"Time to die, old fart!", the young man said and pulled the trigger. At the same moment as the steel arrow left the crossbow, Achen threw himself to left and swung the daedric blade towards the traitor.

The arrow sunk to the stone pillar at the same time as the longsword smashed the crossbow into pieces. The cursing young man took few steps backwards and pulled out his steel sword.

Achen quickly rose up again and took a duelling position, ready to kill this traitor. The young man was just about to attack, as about two dozen skeleton champions ran into the room and charged towards the adventurers. The young man tried to hit the nearest skeleton but the undead creatures swarmed all over him and stabbed a dozen sabers into his flesh.

When the young man stopped screaming, the skeletons turned their attention towards Achen.

"All right, I think it's time to get the hell out of here now!", said Achen and pulled a small amulet from his pocket. A bright light filled the room and several sabers cut the air as Achen touched the Almsivi-amulet and disappeared from the room. Almost instantly he reappeared in front of an imperial temple, a hundred miles away from the fort, safely in the mainland.

---

Two days later, Achen was back in Caledra and this time he had enough money to pay his rent and refresh his business. Even more he joyed of the shiny daedric longsword which now was hanging in his belt. These items were extremely rare and usually in lousy condition.

Finally Achen reached the door of his house and inserted his key to the lock. It did not fit.

"What the...", Achen began, but then noticed a large note in the door. "FOR SALE?!", repeated Achen in astonishment.

"So... Tuff finally got bored and re-sold the house.", said Achen to himself. But he didn't need the house anymore, he was bored with Caledra anyway. Maybe now would be a good time to fill an old dream of his and pay a little visit at the capital of Vvardenfell, the city of Vivec...

---

Achen was still memorizing around the campfire, as the dream started to go fuzzy. Achen shook his head, trying to fight the sleep, but then he realised that he was actually waking up. When everything around him became clearer, he remembered where he was... he remembered that he had just been memorizing old times before he had met Merlac... and Merlac was still guarding the camp for predators in a nearby hill... but where was the campfire?

Achen turned his head and realised the fire was now in the other side of him and that he wasn't able to see the sky. Achen focused his tired eyes even more and saw that he was in a tent, filled with animal skins.

He was just about to call Merlac's name, as he turned his head and saw an old woman who was holding a very sharp knife at Achen's throat...


	19. The Third Trial

****

Chapter Eighteen: The Third Trial

Achen stared at the old woman and her sharp knife, which was at the moment a bit too close to Achen's throat.

"Hold still", the old woman said.

"What.... no... don't touch me, somebody help me!", Achen yelled as he felt the cold steel against his throat.

The old woman sighed.

"No no, don't move, I don't want to rip your throat."

"No...wait...you don't? Then what are you doing?!"

"I'm shaving your beard."

Achen stared at the old woman and the woman indeed started shaving Achen's cheeks.

"But... I don't have a beard...", Achen mumbled still feeling a bit fuzzy.

Achen touched his other cheek and felt it, he indeed had a short beard.

"But... I just shaved yesterday...", Achen said to himself. None of this was making sense.

"There you go", the old woman said and cleaned Achen's jaw with a soft animal skin.

"Where... where am I? And where's Merlac?"

At the same moment, Merlac walked inside the tent.

"Ah, I thought I heard some talking", Merlac grinned and kneeled next to the old woman.

"Could you please explain why I am almost naked under a stinking animal skin and wake up with a sharp knife on my throat?"

"I'm afraid that is all my fault", the old woman said softly.

"And you are...?"

"She is Nibani Maesa, the wise woman of the Urshilaku, and we are in her tent in the Urshilaku camp in the northern part of Vvardenfell.", Merlac answered.

"But... how did we get here? I thought we were still five-days-travel away from the camp?", Achen stuttered.

"Well, we were, yes, and it took us about five days to get here."

"Five days... what a... err... how long have I been unconscious?"

"Almost three weeks now", Nibani answered.

Achen just stared at the old woman again.

"Err... what?"

"Yes, you've been sleeping for almost three weeks now. Look, it wasn't up to me, the Urshilaku warriors found our campfire soon after you started sleeping and they had to drug you...", Merlac began.

"DRUG ME?!", Achen yelled.

"Heh, don't worry mate, I didn't understand that either at first, but there were some tasks I had to do, trials for the prophecy, and I had to do them alone."

"Are you saying you've been wondering around Vvardenfell for almost three weeks without me, and I've just been sleeping here?"

"Well... yeah. Sorry..."

Achen stared at Merlac and then at Nibani. Both of them were trying not to laugh.

"All right then, can I even hear what you've been doing.

"Ah, Merlac followed my guidance and acquired some... items... to the leader of our tribe. It's called the Test of Warrior", Nibani explained.

"Items... test of warrior?", Achen wondered and then he noticed a large bruise in Merlac's arm.

Merlac noticed Achen's look and covered the bruise with his other hand.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing", Merlac said and grinned.

"It's nothing? Where were you actually?"

"Well, I had to visit some abandoned Sixth House shrines and stuff... nothing special..."

"And what else was there than just rats?"

"Well, an ash vampire from Dagoth family didn't like me wondering around there..."

"An ash vampire?! So no big deal, huh?"

"Well, he wasn't as bad as Dagoth Gares back then..."

"God damn you Merlac, you got corpus disease from Gares and now you are telling me this other ash vampire wasn't as bad?"

"I've been practicing after that Gares incident, you know?"

"Wait, wait, wait!", Nibani interrupted them. "Merlac, did I hear you right? You got corpus?"

"Err... yeah", Merlac said to the old woman.

"...and found a cure?"

"Well... yeah, or I wouldn't be here."

"Ah, that explains..."

"Explains what?", Achen asked,

"_The curse of flesh before him flies_", Nibani answered. "That is a part of the lost prophecies you brought me. Until this, that part has been a mystery to me, but now I understand what it means. It is the part where the Nerevarine becomes immune to the worst and incurable disease."

"So you have read the lost prophecies? Well? Am I the Nerevarine reborn or not?", Merlac asked sounding impatient again. Achen also stared at the wise woman, waiting.

"With the lost prophecies, much is revealed. You, the Outlander Incarnate beneath the Red Mountain, must face Dagoth Ur to lift the seven curses of the Sixth House; Curse of Fire, Curse of Ash, Curse of Flesh, Curse of Ghosts, Curse of Seed, Curse of Despair and Curse of Dreams. To remove these curses, you must go to the Red Mountain and defeat Dagoth Ur and all his hosts. It is an unspeakable task, but perhaps, with Azura's blessing, at least we have hope."

Achen and Merlac were quiet. So this was it, that was the task Merlac was meant to success in before he was even born.

"So... I just go to the Red Mountain and..."

"No, no.", Nibani interrupted again. "Only the destination is written, not the path. You must still become the Nerevarine before attempting to succeed in such a terrible mission."

"Right... the Seven trials... so what is the fourth trial then?", Merlac asked.

"I cannot tell you what is the fourth trial, as you have no yet passed the third. You have proven yourself to be a great warrior, yes, but the Test of Wisdom still waits you."

Merlac nodded.

"Can Achen help me with this one?", Merlac asked sounding a bit worried.

"Yes, now that you have passed the Test of Warrior, it is up to you who you choose with you in your journey."

"Let's hear it then", Achen said, while dressing his shirt.

The wise woman closed her eyes and spoke from memory.

__

"The eye of the needle lies in the teeth of the wind,  
The mouth of the cave lies in the skin of the pearl,  
The dream is the door and the star is the key."

Nibani smiled when she saw the expression on Achen's face.

"It's a riddle." Merlac said.

"Yes, it is a riddle which will lead you to the Cavern of the Incarnate. I cannot tell you what you will find, or what you must do there. To be honest with you, I don't even know myself.", Nibani said.

"The eye of the needle lies in the teeth of the wind...", Merlac repeated.

"Teeth of the wind... a mountain?", Achen suggested.

"Yes... yes, maybe. Hmm... I heard there are two sharp mountains near the Ghostfence east of Red Mountain, called the Airan's teeth.", Merlac said and looked at Achen.

"Airan... that sounds familiar..."

"Airan was a prophet, a friend of Azura's. Those mountains were named after her."

"A sharp mountains, named after Azura's friend... that cannot be a coincidence!", Achen smiled and finished bounding up his boots.

"I'm sure it isn't.", Merlac grinned

"Let's go then!", Achen said.

The two friends said goodbye to Nibani and left the Urshilaku camp after packing up their gear. The wise woman stared long after them, even after Achen and Merlac had already walked behind the endless sand dunes.

"He is indeed resourceful", a man's voice said behind Nibani.

"Yes... and his companion is loyal, he will follow Merlac to the deepest caves of Red Mountain if he has to."

"Still you are worried?", Sul-Matuul asked from the old woman.

"No incarnate so far has reached the Test of Wisdom, I cannot help Merlac much more."

"But you can show him the way, and I believe he will walk it with great honor.", the tribe leader said.

"May he be blessed by Azura...may he be blessed by the gods..."


	20. The Cavern of the Incarnate

****

Chapter Nineteen: The Cavern of the Incarnate

It took over a week for Merlac and Achen to get over the gray wastelands surrounding the Red Mountain. Though they were still far away from the Ghostfence and the volcano itself, it was already impossible to see the sun behind the ash clouds above them.

"I don't think this is normal", said Achen as the companions walked along a large path between two high cliffs.

"What isn't?"

"The ash clouds... they usually don't spread this far away from Red Mountain."

Merlac turned his head and looked at the horizon. Though they were surrounded by high cliffs, he knew at which direction the volcano was.

"It has been more active during last few months than it used to be when I arrived to Vvardenfell."

"Should we be worried?"

"No...and yes. Somewhere beneath that mountain lives the Dagoth family and Dagoth Ur himself hides there."

Achen sighed sounding worried. He knew that sooner or later Merlac's path would lead them both there. Or at least Merlac, there was nothing forcing himself, but no, he had made and oath and he would rather die than let Merlac go there alone. Achen would never leave a friend behind.

"The wind is getting stronger", Merlac said.

Achen listened carefully as the wind whistled louder and louder above the cliffs.

"Looks like a blight storm, we should find cover before the wind changes direction and starts blowing along this path."

"Yes, we should.... no, wait!", Merlac said suddenly.

"What is it?"

"Look, there! Ahead of us!"

Achen screw up his eyes and tried to stare in front of him despite the flying sand. Then he saw them; two high, sharp rock formations right in front of them, on the both sides of the path.

"It's the Airan's teeth!"

"Come on, let's go!", Merlac yelled through the wind.

"No, we should wait until the storm settles down, it's much stronger up there!"

Merlac looked once more through the flying sand, but then agreed with Achen and they started building a small cover under the cliffs.

---

Some hours later, Achen was sleeping under a small cliff, as somebody touched him in the shoulder. Achen woke up in a second and was ready to cut the intruder's fingers off with his dagger, but before he hit the man the dagger was already missing and he found himself looking at the blade himself.

"It's just me", Merlac said smiling and gave Achen back his dagger.

"Oh... sorry, but it's still night, can't we sleep a bit more?"

"No, the blight storm is gone and we have to continue now when the stars are visible."

"Err... why?"

"Do you remember the end of the riddle?", Merlac asked as they packed up their gear again.

"Err.. something about a dream and stars?"

"The dream is the door and the star is the key", Merlac reminded Achen.

"The star is the key... but... ah, it's the same thing as in Holamayan, the door only opens when the stars are visible."

"Yeah, well... not actually, it opens only when Azura's star is visible."

"Oh... err, how did you know that?"

"Because I had a dream few minutes ago, and look", Merlac said and pointed at the sky. Achen looked up and saw cloudless night sky and directly above them a bright, light blue star, which blinked slowly.

"The dream is the door, and the star is the key", Merlac repeated and grinned.

"Why I never see any cool dreams", Achen wondered and Merlac couldn't help laughing.

They walked up the steep mountainside of one of the Airan's teeth, looking for something that might be a door.

"There's something glittering over there!", Achen rejoiced, but startled as he saw the expression on Merlac's face.

"Merlac...Merlac! What's wrong? You're pale as a kwama egg!"

Merlac sat down and scratched his head with his hands.

"Merlac? Are you alright?", Achen asked and kneeled next to his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I just... I had another vision."

"A vision?"

"Yeah... I've been seeing dreams ever since I arrived to Balmora some years ago... more often when I met Nibani Maesa... but this was the first time I saw one while I'm not sleeping"

"Dreams like the one you saw about this door and star stuff?"

"No... dreams about past times... dreams about dark caverns.... dreams of Dagoth Ur...", Merlac said and sighed.

"What did you see this time?", Achen asked sounding very worried.

"I saw a Chimer city in flames... bodies all over the streets... then suddenly I was in a large cave, standing on a cliff or something, and in the bottom of the cave was an entire lake of lava."

"An underground lake of lava... must be somewhere inside Red Mountain."

"Achen... I saw it... I saw what Dagoth Ur is building. I saw the enormous robot made from dwemer steel, and it's almost finished!"

"You mean... you mean the new god Dagoth Ur is rumored to be building?"

Merlac nodded.

"Dagoth Ur has the Heart of Lorkhan, I don't know how but he has it."

"How much time we have?"

"I don't know... days... weeks...months, I don't know. I could have as well been a vision from the past, from the time before general Nerevar invaded the Red Mountain last time."

"Then we should hurry, just in case. Let's move on, I think there is something up there."

Merlac nodded again and rose up. They followed the glittering light for few minutes and arrived to a rather small, wooden door, that didn't look like it fit there.

"It looks like it was build five minutes ago", Achen said.

"It kind of was, it wasn't here when we weren't. I saw it appear in my dream last night."

"Well, the star is still blinking so give it a try", Achen encouraged Merlac.

Merlac took a deep breath and grabbed the small, golden handle in the door. At the same moment, the bright star died from the sky and both Merlac and Achen disappeared in a bright flash of light.

---

Merlac and Achen stared around them. A quiet sound of water came from somewhere in front of them.

"All right, I can't see any stars, and though it's completely dark in here, it at least sounds like a cave."

Like as an answer, a familiar female voice spoke somewhere around them.

"Under Azura's star, the door is now open."

Merlac stared in front of them, as few candles suddenly lit up in the ground, and barely gave enough light for them to be able to see a large statue in front of them. It was a statue of a beautiful woman, kneeling on a large stone. The statue's hand was pointing at Merlac and Achen with palmside upwards.

Merlac and Achen walked carefully closer to the statue and saw a small, extremely beautiful, golden ring floating in the air above the statue's palm.

"I think it's for you.", Achen said.

Merlac looked at Achen and then the ring. He took a deep breath and touched the ring.

"It's rather warm."

"Can you feel anything?"

"No... not yet... should I?"

"I don't know, you're the one who is the incarnation of a dead general!"

"Oh... right... maybe I should put it on then?"

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea", Achen said.

"Why not?"

"Because there are many items in the world that might even kill you if you just wear them."

"But that is Azura's statue, I don't think this is a bad thing."

"Well, give it a try then."

Merlac looked at the small ring. It had golden shapes in it, representing a small crescent and a star. He swallowed and put the ring into his right ring finger.

Suddenly, the cave was full of light, as dozens and dozens of candles lit up all around them. They were in a very small cave, filled with beautiful flowers and small waterfalls, everything decorated with colorful candles. The Azura's statue started glowing faintly and quiet ashlander music echoed from the stone walls. Merlac and Achen stared in astonishment, as six glowing ghosts appeared around the cave, standing behind them, sitting on a small rock, walking from behind the statue, everyone smiling at them.

To Merlac's surprise, Achen wasn't scared or pulling out his sword, just staring in astonishment. Finally, when the six ghosts had formed a circle around them, a seventh ghost appeared in front of the statue; a beautiful, ageless woman. Merlac recognized her as Azura herself.

Before Merlac or Achen were able to say anything, the ghost of Azura spoke.

"Nerevar reborn, Incarnate; Your first three trials are finished. Now, two new trials lie before you. Seek the Ashlander Ashkhans, and the Great House Councils. Four tribes must name you Nerevarine. Three houses must name you Hortator. My servant Nibani Maesa shall be your guide. And when you are Hortator, and Nerevarine, when you have stood before the False Gods and freed the heart from its prison, heal my people and restore Morrowind. Do this for me, and with my blessing."

After Azura had said this, her ghost vaporized, but the six other ghosts stayed and smiled at them.

"Four tribes must name you Nerevarine...", said Achen.

"...and three houses must name me Hortator. Nibani can explain that better I hope.", Merlac continued.

Suddenly, a ghost of an old ashlander man approached them.

"Welcome, Incarnate. I am Conoon Chodala. I was not the one. But I wait and hope. Ask, and I shall tell you my story."

"I was not the one...", Merlac repeated to himself. "Hey, Achen, these people, they are those who have tried to become the Nerevarine reborn before I did, or their ghosts I mean."

"Oh... that makes sense... all right, what's your story?", Achen asked from the old ashlander.


	21. The Stories of the Dead

****

Chapter Twenty: The Stories of the Dead

Merlac and Achen sat down on a large rock and started listening, as the first ghost, Conoon Chodala, kneeled in front of them and started telling his story.

"I was an ashkhan.", the ghost began. "I led my people against the Akaviri while the Cyrodiil dogs fled before them like Kagouti. I quested deep into the strongholds and Red Mountain, cleansing the unclean things in their own blood. I did not heed the councel of the women, and, to my shame, I craved glory, but never saw my real enemies. My axe and boots are yours, with my blessing."

The old ashlander tribe leader handed a pair of old boots and a sharp, enchanted axe to Merlac. Merlac thanked the man, and slowly the old ghost vaporized into air.

The next ghost slowly slid forward and stopped in front of Achen. It was a ghost of a young Dunmer man.

"I am Hort Ledd. I was not the one. But I wait and hope. Ask, and I shall tell you my story."

Achen nodded politely to the ghost.

"I died four hundred years ago, in the last days of turmoil and unrest after the Empire came to Morrowind. I was a thinker, not a doer, and though I was marked by the stars, I was not a hero. Take these things of mine. My bones won't complain."

The man kneeled, and put an old, brown robe and a small daedric cup with some words in it. "Ae herma mora altadoon padhome lkhan ae ai.", Achen read, but did not understand a word.

Again, the ghost vaporized and a third one took his place, this time a young woman, also a Dunmer.

"Welcome, Incarnate. I am Idrenie Nerothan. I was not the one. But I wait and hope. Ask, and I shall tell you my story."

Merlac nodded.

"I lived in the late years of the Tribunate, and behind the scenes, I helped us demoralize, then repel the Akaviri invaders. I knew nothing of the Nerevarine or Dagoth Ur until I took refuge with the Ashlanders. I died as a fool, trying to loot the ruined Kogoruhn in the Test of Warrior. Here, take these, maybe there is something in the world worth stealing."

The woman handed Merlac a complicated lockpick and a black robe, and then vaporized.

"I am Erur-Dan", the next ghost said and took the woman's place. Once again, the ghost said the same words about asking as the three ghosts before him.

"I saw Morrowind fall to the Empire. I lived through the humiliation of surrender, swore hatred and vengeance against Imperial and Tribunal alike for their betrayals. In later years, I despaired, and turned to Red Mountain, where I grew old and died fighting the blight and Red Mountain monsters. Take my weapons and armor, I have no further use for them."

The man handed a broken glass spear and a beautiful glass cuirass to Achen.

"My name is Ane Teria", said the ghost of an old imperial man. "I was a holy crusader of the Temple in the golden era of the Tribunate. I contributed substantially to the writings that were later suppressed by the Temple, and now would be called Apographa. I followed the Tribunal unquestioningly, to my regret. I never believed in the Nerevarine prophecies until it was too late. Take my humble possessions, with my blessing."

The old man handed Merlac an old dusty book labeled _36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 12 _and a steel mace.

When the old man's ghost had vaporized, only one ghost remained, floating in front of Merlac and Achen. She was a young girl, a peasant. She didn't look strange at any way, but something in the expression on Achen's face caught Merlac's attention.

"Err... Achen?", Merlac asked carefully.

"I've seen her before... haven't I?"

The young girl nodded.

"Where?", Merlac asked with a surprised expression on his face.

"In Caledra, few months ago. Her mother lived only few houses away from mine. Then suddenly, you just disappeared, and nobody found out where. There are still some notes around the village about a missing girl, named Peakstar."

The girl smiled and nodded again, and then looked at Merlac.

"Welcome, Incarnate, Moon-and-Star Reborn, Hortator, Nerevarine, Mourner of the Tribe Unmourned, Redeemer of the False Gods. I am Peakstar. I was not the one. But I wait and hope. Ask, and I shall answer, if wisdom guides me."

"Please, tell us your story", Merlac said politely.

"I am a failed Incarnate. So are all these who remain here with me in the Cavern of the Incarnate. I survived the blight, but fell in battle with an Ash Vampire. I could not master the arts of war. Nor could I learn the ways of the Great Houses. They would not have accepted me as Hortator. Please, take these few poor things... they are of no use for me..."

The girl handed Merlac a small bag of colorful stones, very beautiful ones, but did not vaporize away like the other ghosts.

"Umm... Peakstar?", Merlac asked carefully.

"Yes? You may ask about the journey that stands in front of you, and I shall answer if the wisdom guides me. I shall stay here until you no longer have anything to ask."

"Oh... very well then... Peakstar, you called me Moon-and-Star back then, what did you mean?"

The girl pointed at the small ring in Merlac's hand.

"You bear the Moon-and-Star, the ring of Nerevar. None may deny; you ARE the Nerevar reborn, the prophesied Incarnate. The Temple will know you as an enemy. Ordinators will mark you for Death, and the Tribunal Faithful of the Great Houses will hate and fear you. The doubters of the Tribes will test your strength and doubt your honor. You will be known. You must prepare, and be ready."

"What is a Hortator?", Achen asked.

"Your friend must go before the Councilors of the Great Houses and satisfy them, for only the Councils of the Great Houses can name you Hortator. I do not know the settled people of the Great Houses, and can offer you no councel."

"You also said something about the Ashlanders, that they should name me Nerevarine?", Merlac continued.

"You must go before the ashkhans of the Wastes People and satisfy them, for only the ashkhans of the Four Tribes can name you Nerevarine. Speak first with Sul-Matuul of the Urshilaku, and with wise woman Nibani Maesa, for of all the Ashlanders, they are wisest in the lore of the Incarnate, and you have already shown Sul-Matuul proof of your worth."

"Err... what is the point... umm... I mean, why do the Great Houses and the Ashlander Tribes have to name Merlac a Hortator and Nerevarine?", Achen asked.

"Dunmer of the Ashlands and Dunmer of the Houses have traditions of a War Leader set over all the tribes in times of need. First, your task is to prove to them their need. Then you must prove that you should be their war leader; the Nerevarine, for Ashlanders, the Hortator, for the Great Houses."

"Prove them their need? I don't understand...", Merlac said.

"To show them their need, you must tell them about the Tribunal, how they have adopted the profane tools of the Dwarves, how they have betrayed and misled their people, and give them proofs. You must tell them about Dagoth Ur, and the Sixth House, about their powers and plans, and how the Tribunal no longer has power to contain them."

"Any idea how Merlac can prove them he is a capable war leader?", Achen asked.

"Your friend must demonstrate his might in battle, his honor in speech and his wisdom in leadership. Nothing more, nothing less.", Peakstar answered.

"So... I must convince the three Great Houses and the four Ashlander tribes that they should name me a war leader, who must defeat Dagoth Ur and deny the Tribunal, the three Gods who are not really gods?"

Peakstar did not say anything, but only smiled, and vaporized away, leaving Merlac and Achen alone in the beautiful, small cave.

"Well, I guess we should head back to the Urshilaku camp them...", Achen said. Merlac just nodded quietly, while thinking what the ghosts had said. After the two companions had left, the candles slowly went out, one by one. Merlac thought he had walked a long path, but his journey had actually just began...


	22. Protector of People

****

Chapter Twenty-one: Protector of People

**__**

NOTE: Some parts of this chapter have intentionally been altered from the original plot. This is because of the conversion from a game into a writing. Sorry.

When Merlac and Achen finally arrived back to the Urshilaku camp, they told Sul-Matuul and Nibani Maesa what they found from the Cavern of the Incarnate. They spent two entire days talking with the tribe leader, listening his warnings of how some people will mark Merlac as their enemy, now when he carries the ring of Moon-and-Star. Finally, however, Sul-Matuul had said everything he could, to help Merlac and Achen in their journey, and agreed to declare Merlac as Nerevarine of the Urshilaku tribe.

"Child of Moon-and-Star, kneel.", Sul-Matuul said, while standing in the middle of his large tent. Merlac slowly approached and kneeled in front of the old leader, as Achen and Nibani Maesa sat in the corner of the tent and watched the ceremony quietly.

"Before my heart and kin, and before the People of Wastes, I name you Urshilaku Nerevarine, War Leader of the Urshilaku, and Protector of the People. In token of this, I give you the Teeth, which shall be a sign to all Dunmer, that you are the Nerevarine, and that the Urshilaku shall follow you, in all things, even into death, until the Enemy is defeated, or until you give this back into my hand,"

Sul-Matuul put a necklace made from animal teeth around Merlac's neck.

"Rise, my friend and protector of my people.", he said.

Merlac rose up, smiled and Nibani and Achen applauded to him.

"Now, Nerevarine of Tribe Urshilaku, you must join the three Great Houses of Vvardenfell under one Hortator. You must be named Hortator in turn by House Redoran, House Hlaalu, and House Telvanni. I know little of the ways of the Great Houses, but first I would try the Hlaalu, for they are weak and spoiled, but cunning and crafty. Then I'd try Redoran, for they are warriors, hard-willed, but straightforward. Save the Telvanni for last. Anyone who is not afraid of a 2000-year-old wizard is a fool."

Merlac nodded determined.

"The khans of the Great Houses are called councillors. The khans of House Hlaalu meet in a place on a river far away. They call the place Balmora, Stonewood in our speech. You must find these councillors and persuade them to name you Hortator. I can tell you nothing about these people. You must go there and learn for yourself.", Sul-Matuul continued.

"I am familiar with the Great House Hlaalu, as I spent the first months there after arriving to Vvardenfell.", Merlac said.

"Good. You must go now, unite the Houses, unite the four Tribes. Force them name you as Hortator and Nerevarine. Protect their people, and they will fight for you, when the time requires it. Good luck, Nerevarine of Urshilaku, good luck, my friend.", the old ashkhan said.

Merlac and Achen left the tent quietly. They stood outside the tent for few minutes before looking at each other.

"So...I guess we have a lot to do, huh?", Achen said.

"Yeah... luckily I don't have to do it alone.", Merlac replied.

The two friends shook hands and started their long travel back to Balmora, where it all had started...

---

It was midday a week later when Merlac and Achen reached the walls of Balmora with a silt strider. They paid for the trip and walked down the rock stairs side by side. Merlac was wearing a dark-blue, formal robe he had bought from Ald'ruhn and Achen was dressed in a shiny, green glass cuirass, with a blue markings in the chest which marked him as Merlac's armorbearer.

"The Hlaalu councillors are not to be trusted, Merlac, they are run by money and connections. I suggest you don't believe a word they are saying, unless you get an unanimous vote."

"I know, visited their manor in Balmora almost daily while doing jobs for Caius few months ago. I wonder what they will say when we charge in and say what we are going to do."

"What if they don't even let us in?", Achen asked worried.

"They will, and when they do, the decision is not hard to make.", Merlac said with a blink in his eyes.

"Why not?"

"I have something for them that should help us persuade them to see our point.", Merlac said and tapped a large money bag hanging in his belt.

"And what if septims fail?"

"Them we use the second method.", Merlac said and tapped his longsword.

They arrived to the three-storey building which was decorated with large clothes with Hlaalu signatures in them. Merlac walked to the large doubledoors, closely followed by Achen, and knocked three times. Soon the doors opened and an old dunmer advised them to come in.

They walked into a small hall which had no windows, but it was given bright light by strange blue plants in the corners.

"Who has come to meet my master, Nileno Dorvays, mister...?", the old man asked.

"Tell him Merlac is here, he'll recognize my name."

The old man walked away and soon returned with a noble dunmer man, much younger than his servant.

"Ah, Merlac, I haven't seen you in a long time, I thought you left with Caius or something. I'm sorry but I'm a bit busy right now, as the councillors from Vivec are here discussing about some important matters, so please be quick. How can I help you?", Nileno said.

"I know the councillors are here, that is why I'm here. I wish to talk with them, is that ok?", Merlac asked politely.

"You... err... Hah, you're always joking, Merlac.", the nobleman said and gave a short laugh.

"No, I'm not joking, I wish to see the councillors immediately.", Merlac asked again, this time with more demanding voice.

"I'm not entertained anymore, please come back later, I must go back to the councillors now."

"I really must see the councillors, the rules of Hlaalu force you to allow me an audience with them."

"What? What kind of rule is that, I ask you?"

"I want them to declare me the Hortator of the Great House Hlaalu."

Nileno stared Merlac for few seconds and then burst into laughing tears.

"Whoa... that was a good one, now get out of here, I'm really busy, Merlac."

"I'm afraid I have to help myself then.", Merlac said and walked past Nileno and Achen followed him.

"Hey, you cant go there!", the nobleman tried as Merlac determinedly walked towards the assembly room's door.

Before Nileno was able to stop him, Merlac opened the assembly room's door and walked straight in. Inside the room was a large, round table with four Dunmer noblemen and one woman sitting around it.

"What is the meaning of this?!", the woman yelled and stood up.

"Mistress Velanda Omani, I'm extremely sorry for this incident, this man just wouldn't listen to me!", Nileno said.

"Well get him out of here, this is a private meeting!", the woman yelled.

"Right away, ma'am. Guards!", Nileno yelled.

Four armed guards with yellow bonemold cuirasses rushed in and surrounded Merlac and Achen. Merlac didn't even look at them, but stared at the councillors and spoke.

"I am Merlac, and I'm here to give you a word of warning."

"Nonsense! Take him out of here!", another man said and also stood up. The guards tried to grab Achen but he kicked one guard into chest and grabbed second one's hand. Merlac wrapped the sleeve of his left hand and conjured a bright stunning spell into both guards on his other side. Achen swinged his guard's hand and threw him against the last remaining guard.

The rest of the councillors rose up and were about to yell for help, but Merlac wrapped also his right sleeve and showed his palm. It took few seconds for the councillors to notice it, but one by one all of them turned their attention into the small golden ring in Merlac's finger.

Merlac waited until everyone was quiet and staring at the ring, until he spoke.

"My name is Merlac, and I'm the bearer of Moon-and-Star, the only one who can carry the ring of Nerevarine and live. I speak with Azura's blessing, when I say I've come here to ask for your help. I want you to name me as Hortator of the Great House Hlaalu, protector of your people."

Slowly, the councillors sat down.

"The Hortator of House Hlaalu? Are you mad, outlander?", One of the dunmer said finally.

"Why do you say so?"

"There is no need for Hortator, everything is in order in Vvardenfell, at least everything that considers our Great House."

"That is not true. I have come here to give you a warning about the Sixth House."

"The Sixth House?", another councillor asked. "There has been only little trouble with that cult and the Imperial legions are dealing with that."

"They cannot deal with the cult, as it is led by Dagoth Ur himself and his family.", Merlac said

A short silence filled the room, until it was broken by the woman councillor.

"Dagoth Ur? Are you crazy? He disappeared long ago, probably dead already!"

"I can assure you he is still alive, and in control of an army of ash vampires and other creatures. I must unite the three Great Houses of Vvardenfell to face this threat."

"Impossible, we would have noticed, there hasn't been any more movement inside the Ghostfence than decades ago, and even if there were, they can never get through the Ghostfence itself!"

"Have you noticed the spreading ash storms around Red Mountain? Or the epidemic blight disease among the animals?", Achen asked.

Some of the councillors looked like they were about to say something, but they remained quiet and looked at each other.

"Err... even if you would convince all Hlaalu councillors, the decision has to be made by Orvas Dren, the leader of our house. And even then, the three Great Houses of Morrowind will never unite against any enemy!", Nileno said finally.

"How do we know you are a capable war leader, anyway?", one of the men asked.

"I have already been declared the Nerevarine of the Urshilaku tribe. I have faced their traditional tests of warrior and wisdom, and passed them."

"Ashlanders, huh? We care nothing of them, their pathetic tests mean nothing to us!", the woman said angrily.

"I'm also the one who killed the ash vampire inside that Sixth House secret base some time ago."

"Nonsense, there were no ash vampire's body to be found there", the woman said.

"Err... that is actually not the case, ma'am...", a quiet man interrupted from the other side of the table.

"What do you mean?", the woman asked and all five other councillors stared at the man.

"Well... there was indeed some unusual ash to be found inside the throne room..."

"Why didn't you tell us this? Why didn't the imperial legions tell us this?", the woman yelled.

"Because there hasn't been ash vampires outside the Ghostfence since the dwemer wars, it would have launched a massive panic all over Vvardenfell!", the man replied angrily.

"Well, this changes the situation", an old man said.

"So what is your decision?", Merlac asked.

The six councillors stared each other and nodded.

"The decision is still up to Lord Orvas Dren, but yes... you have the unanimous support of the whole Hlaalu council to become the Hortator of the Great House Hlaalu."

"You have my gratitude", Merlac said and bowed politely."

"Umm... where can we find this Dren-guy?", Achen asked.

"He lives in his own plantation north of Vivec, but I believe he is currently in Vivec meeting Grassius Curio. You should find him there, and Curio will handle the formalities in case Dren accepts you as our Hortator.", Nileno answered.

"Very well, we will leave for Vivec then. Sorry for interrupting your meeting.", Merlac said and he and Achen politely left the manor.

"Ok, that wasn't so bad", Achen sighed.

"The Hlaalu are run by money, like I said. Any possibility of a blight epidemy or raging ash vampires would totally mess up their business, so they won't take any risks. I doubt the Redoran or the Telvanni will be as easy ones... and we'll still have to make Dren agree with us."

"Sigh... well, to Vivec it is then..."

---

"Would you like a cup of tea, pumpkin?", Grassius Curio asked with a sugary voice.

"Err... sure, please", Merlac answered politely.

Merlac and Achen had arrived to the city of Vivec and were currently sitting around a small, decorated table in Curio's personal manor in the Hlaalu canton. As the nobleman wobbled away, Merlac grinned and whispered to Achen.

"It seems little Grassius likes men...", he said.

"...but luckily he seems to be interested in you, might help us to get agreement from Dren.", Achen needled Merlac.

Suddenly, a dunmer male with a sharp beard walked to the room and sat down before Merlac and Achen managed to stand up.

"Yes, yes sit down please. You must be Merlac, the...err...the one who wants to be the one.", the man said.

"Orvas Dren, I presume?", Merlac asked politely.

"Yes, that is me. I got a magical letter from my councillors in Balmora just before you arrived. I have to say this is most unusual."

"Yes, but I hope you understand the threat Dago...", Merlac started, until the man interrupted him.

"I also heard the council has already given you unanimous support on behalf of the Great House Hlaalu, so it's up to my voice, yes?"

"Yes, so I underst...", Merlac began again.

"Well... I have to say I find this most uncomfortable. You see, if I name you the Hortator of House Hlaalu, the Tribunal Temple starts to breath on our necks, and that is never good for our business. They can't force us to leave this island, but they have the power to startle our partners and traders."

"I'm aware of that, that is why I'm ready to make a... personal donation, to the House Hlaalu, as an assurance.", Merlac said and dropped a rather large bag on to the table. "Ten thousand septims", Merlac said when he saw Dren's surprised look.

"Err... I appreciate your...donation, but..."

"I hope you do understand how it will affect your business, if the blight continues to spread and the creatures of Red Mountain start to threaten the security of Ghostfence itself?"

Though Merlac knew Dren wouldn't really believe in Ghostfence failing, he knew this had hit the right spot. Dren leaned back and stared the moneybag with his hands crossed.

"Can you promise you won't bring any disgrace to our House, in case no threat really exists?"

"I will take the blame completely on myself", Merlac said convincingly.

"Very well then. Grassius! Bring me the Belt of Hortator!", Dren yelled and put the moneybag into his pocket. Few seconds later Curio wobbled back to the room with a large teapot.

"You won't stay here for tea?", he asked looking sad.


	23. The Redoran Duel

****

Chapter Twenty-two: The Redoran duel

**__**

NOTE: Some parts of this chapter have intentionally been altered from the original plot. This is because of the conversion from a game into a writing. Sorry.

Merlac and Achen were walking through the streets of Ald'ruhn, towards a gigantic mushroom which was the home of the Redoran council. Achen looked around every once in a while, as the streets were patrolled by Redoran guards. They both knew they had not done anything illegal, but they had no idea how people would react if somebody recognised the ring in Merlac's finger.

As another guard walked past them with his yellow bonemold cuirass, Merlac took a closer look at it. Unlike the ones the Hlaalu guards used in Balmora, these armour sets were more worn-out by the daily sand storms in the city. Some guards even had some large scars in their shields, like markings from battles they had been in.

"I wonder why the Redoran house is guarding their city so strongly, as they have an Imperial fort just outside the city walls", Achen wondered.

"Like Sul-Matuul said, The Redorans are warriors in blood. Fighting is their negotiation, but they still have more honour than the Hlaalu for example.", Merlac said.

"How do you think they will react?"

"To be honest with you, I really don't know. They will probably be willing to show their power to the Imperial legions and gain more responsibility in guarding Vvardenfell, but on the other hand they don't like co-operating with the other houses more than the others like to work with the Redorans."

The two friends arrived to a rather small door in the side of the gigantic mushroom. The door was guarded by two Redoran guards, who moved their hands closer to their swords as the two men approached.

"Greetings, we wish to meet the councillors of your Great House.", Merlac said with official voice.

The guards looked at each other, but to Achen's surprise they did not start laughing, but opened the door and stepped aside.

As they walked through the door, they noticed there was no corridors carved to the mushroom, as it was completely hollow from inside. On the inner sides of the building were large wooden balconies, connected into each other by wooden suspended bridges. Merlac and Achen walked through the bridges to the opposite side of the mushroom and stopped in front of three, large, wooden doors labelled "Council's quarters".

"Shall I knock or will you?", Achen joked. Before Merlac managed to answer, the middle door opened by itself and a Redoran dunmer nobleman peeped out.

"Ah, finally, you must be Merlac, the one who tries to become Hortator, we've been expecting you. Please, come with me.", the nobleman said.

Achen rose his eyebrows to Achen and they both followed the man through the doorway. They walked through a rather large manor without saying a word, until they arrived to a large room similar to the Hlaalu meeting room in Balmora. In the middle of the room was a round table with five Redoran councillors sitting around it.

"Greetings, I am..."

"...Merlac, yes, we know.", one of the councillors interrupted before Merlac was able to finish.

"You are trying to unite the Great Houses of Morrowind, yes?", another councillor continued.

"Yes, that is why I am here."

"Yes, we got a note from our informants in Balmora. It seems you already managed to buy off the support from those Hlaalu fools."

"...and now he wants your support.", Achen said and stepped forward.

"Yes, that is what we suspected, we are familiar with the Hortator tradition. However, I'm afraid we will have to decline."

"And why is that?", Merlac asked without feeling surprised.

"The Redorans do not deny the need for something to be done, but we do not agree it is a threat large enough to unite the Great Houses. We have already sent some reinforcements to the imperial outpost in the Ghostfence, but that's all."

"We could always name you our Hortator just because we don't want to look cowards in the side of Hlaalu, but I'm afraid you haven't convinced us that you are even worthy.", another councillor continued.

"So...", Merlac asked with asking expression on his face.

"Our answer is no, come back when the Nords invade Vvardenfell again or something."

Merlac's look wondered around the table. Two councillors were still staring at him, but the others had already started talking about other things and browsing the papers in front of them. Merlac turned to Achen and this looked back at him. They both nodded.

Merlac took out his daedric longsword and Achen took out his, and they both smashed them through the expensive, wooden table, leaving the swords sticking out of the broken wood.

The councillors stood up startled and stared at Merlac and the broken table in turns.

"I believe your faction has a champion. I wish to challenge that man into a duel with swords. If I win, I have proven myself worthy. How do you like the sound of that?"

"Well... we indeed have a champion you are referring to...", one of the councillors said finally.

"And who is that?", Achen asked.

"That would be me.", said a dunmer from the other side of the room, who was -- to Merlac's surprise -- still sitting on his chair. The man had a short, sharp, red beard and dark red eyes, red even compared to the other dunmer in the room.

"You?", Merlac asked.

"Yes, I am the champion of the House Redoran. Do you really wish to challenge me?"

Merlac nodded.

"Very well then, I accept your terms. If you beat me in a fair swordfight in the great arena canton in Vivec, you will have my vote to be our Hortator."

The other councillors nodded to each other and muttered approvingly.

"When?", Merlac asked.

"Three days from now, midday, Vivec's arena. Be there if you want our votes."

"Deal.", Merlac said and he and Achen pulled their swords out of the table, sheathed them and walked out of the room.

"That young imperial has courage, or is he just foolhardy?", the dunmer said to himself after Merlac and Achen had left.

---

Three days later, exactly on midday, Merlac was standing under the Arena pit in Vivec, while Achen was trying to dress him his glass cuirass Merlac had borrowed from him.

"Ok, if this guy is the champion of House Redoran, he's probably one hell of a fighter. But don't worry, just use the same tactic as before, don't let him come too close, keep him away with your longsword."

"That was my plan", Merlac grinned.

"Yes...of course, and remember to move all the time, he will strike as soon as he gets the opportunity."

"Yeah, you've been telling me that since we arrived to Vivec. Well, how do I look?", Merlac asked and pointed at the darkgreen glass cuirass on him.

"Looks great and it should give you protection against most of his strikes. Just take care of your head and cover your legs with your sword. You'll be alright."

"Thanks."

An imperial servant walked down the stairs.

"It's time to go.", the man said. Merlac took his sword from the sheath and left the sheath with his other useless gear, and followed the man with Achen just behind him.

The arena itself was a large, sand-floored hall inside one canton in Vivec. There was a large opening in the roof high above them and the midday's sun gave bright light for the arena and the audience. The stand was almost empty, with the exception of the Redoran councillors and their bodyguards in their bonemold armour.

A small gate in the other side of the arena pit opened and Merlac walked in. Achen sat down in the audience near the Redoran councillors. Merlac looked around and saw the Redoran champion walk to the pit from another small gate. As he walked away from the shadows, Merlac took a quick breath; The dunmer man was dressed in a shiny, complete armour set made from dark ebony. Though pitch black, the cuirass shined in the sunlight and Merlac knew every last piece of that armour set had to be worth a small fortune.

Merlac took a rather heavy steel tower shield from his back, and the dunmer took a decorated, round ebony shield from his. They both walked to the centre of the arena and waited. Soon, a Redoran nobleman walked into a stage above them and spoke to the audience with loud and clear voice.

"Welcome to Vivec, honorful representatives of the Great House Redoran. We are here to witness a glorious duel between Merlac the Imperial, and Bolvyn Venim, the champion of House Redoran."

The Redoran councillors and noblemen applauded when Venim's name was mentioned.

"There will be no fight to death today, they will only battle until one of them is unconscious, or gives up.", the nobleman continued.

Merlac took a deep breath again and focused on his opponent. Venim took out a long ebony broadsword from its sheath and faced Merlac. Merlac rose his sword into ready position and gripped the handle of his shield more tightly.

"Now, let the fight begin!", the nobleman yelled.

Venim started immediately walking slowly around Merlac, facing his direction all the time. Merlac kept his eyes on Venim's broadsword, ready to evade or block the first strike. Finally, the dunmer hit Merlac's shield with his sword and the audience applauded as the fight started.

Despite the full armour set around him, the dunmer moved incredibly fast and sent agile hits towards Merlac much faster than he had predicted. Merlac tried to swing his longsword but Venim easily blocked it with his own and used the same move to strike towards Merlac's head. Merlac evaded the strike barely and the broadsword cut a deep scar to his shoulder pad.

Merlac noticed to his horror that the tower shield was making him clumsier than he had thought, and though his longsword could be handled with only one hand, it wasn't nearly as agile as when used in two-handed combat.

Merlac knew Venim had also noticed the same, as he started making more aggressive attacks and slowly forcing Merlac towards the stone wall behind him. Only few feet away from the wall, Merlac decided he had had enough, and threw away the heavy shield. Merlac saw the surprised expression on Venim's face, as this took a step backwards when Merlac grabbed his sword now with both hands.

Merlac started feeling comfortable again. With much less weight slowing him down, Merlac charged towards Venim and started hitting the dunmer with agile and well-aimed hits. One by one Venim blocked the strikes with either his sword or his shield, but finally Merlac forced him to start walking backwards and evading the hits.

The audience yelled in astonishment as Merlac ran past Venim while slashing at him, forcing the dunmer to rush to the ground to evade the long daedric blade. Merlac turned around and charged again, but this time Venim was prepared and kicked sand into Merlac's eyes. Merlac yelled in pain and jumped backwards, but Venim stroke fast and hit Merlac's back with his broadsword.

The glass cuirass held the sustained the strike but Venim's blade smashed the locks and the cuirass opened and fell to the ground. Merlac turned around and threw the remaining shoulder pads into ground as well.

"Do you really want me to undress you before I finish you?", Venim grinned.

Merlac didn't reply, but rose his sword to ready position again. Venim did the same. Merlac decided to take a risk and sent a violent horizontal slash at his opponent. Venim put his shield against the strike, but the daedric blade smashed trough the expensive shield and did not stop until it struck Venim's chest armour, without penetrating it.

Venim stared at his broken shield in disbelief, while gasping air and walking backwards. Merlac rejoiced as Venim threw away his shield; because of longer blade Merlac now had the advantage.

Merlac rose his sword for another strong strike and Venim rose his. When the two shining blades struck together, Merlac first thought he had broken Venim's sword as well, but to his horror he noticed it was actually his own longsword that had broken into two pieces.

Venim laughed as Merlac stared the stub in his hand. One of the most powerful swords ever existed in Tamriel, a rare daedric longsword that had endured for thousands of years, now rested in two broken pieces. Venim's enchanted ebony broadsword had been too much for the old and thin sword of Vivec himself.

While Venim was still laughing, Merlac threw away the handle of his broken sword and kicked Venim into his palm. Venim's broadsword flew away from the dunmer's hand he stopped laughing.

"I guess we are even now."

Venim ripped away his damaged chest armour and ran against Merlac and yelled. Merlac yelled as well and they both fell down to the sand floor. The audience stood up and stared in excitement as Merlac and Venim wrestled in the sand, hitting each other where they could. Finally, all movement stopped and silence filled the arena, as Merlac grabbed the broken hilt of his sword from the ground and pressed it to Venim's throat. Venim stopped resisting and stared Merlac into eyes.

"Well?", Merlac asked while gasping in exhaustion.

Venim kept staring Merlac and gasping as well, until he suddenly gave a laugh. Merlac stood up and helped the dunmer to stand as well.

"Very well, young imperial. You have beaten me, congratulations."

The Redoran councillor put his hand into his pocket and took out a small red ring.

"This is the Ring of Hortator, it will mark you to have the support of the Great House Redoran. We will follow you into any battle."

Merlac took the ring and thanked. He had got what he came for, but it had come with too high prize. Merlac stared to the ground where laid the remainings of his great sword. The enchantments of a Golden Saint had worn out and the blade did not glow anymore.

Venim noticed Merlac's look and spoke again.

"Merlac, that ring shows everybody that you are the Hortator of House Redoran, protector of our people, but this will show them you have beaten me in a fair fight.", Venim said and handed Merlac his ebony broadsword.

"Err...", Merlac began and stared at the still-shiny blade.

"It's not as unique or powerful as your daedric predecessor, but it's a fine sword and I will know it has a skilful owner. Besides, you've earned it."

Merlac slowly took the ebony sword and looked at Venim.

"Thanks...thanks a lot.", he was able to say.

"Now I believe you have a long journey to travel, I do not wish to hold you any longer. I wish you luck with the Telvanni, as they will not bow in front of any sword. Good luck, Merlac, and congratulations!"

Merlac nodded, turned around and walked out of the arena, while the audience applauded and cheered above him...


	24. The Old Resentment

****

Chapter Twenty-three: The Old Resentment

**__**

NOTE: Some parts of this chapter have intentionally been altered from the original plot. This is because of the conversion from a game into a writing. Sorry.

Achen was looking happy, as they walked towards the harbour of Sadrith Mora, but Merlac had been quiet for most of the journey. They had arrived to the city by boat late last night and stayed over night in a local cornerclub.

"Err...Merlac?", Achen started carefully.

"Yeah?"

"You're still sorry about that sword of yours?"

Merlac stopped but did not answer immediately.

"Yeah, I am. It wasn't just a rare sword, it was a unique item, which had once been in the hand of a god."

"Vivec's not a god, not a real one.", Achen remembered Merlac.

"Well...ok, but still."

"But hey, you have that new ebony broadsword now, that's worth something."

Merlac looked at the decorated hilt of the sword in his belt. It was indeed something, worth a small fortune and thanks to it's shorter blade it was more agile than a daedric longsword. Perhaps this was good, Merlac had always needed an all-around-good sword.

"This place has memories for me.", Achen said suddenly, changing subject.

Merlac looked at him with a curious expression on his face.

"Well, look at that tower over there, that Telvanni plant-like tower on that small island over there."

Merlac looked where Achen was pointing at the coast, and saw something familiar.

"It's Tel Fyr, a rather powerful Telvanni wizard lives there. And you know what's funny?"

"Yeah?"

"I actually saw it explode once! I was standing somewhere around here, one night few months ago, when an entire wall in the middle part of the tower just exploded away and some lightnings lighted the island for a short time."

At this point, Merlac could not help laughing.

"You don't believe me? Really, I saw it happen! Probably a failed spell or something... it sure looked great though."

"Umm... Achen, you know, it was me actually", Merlac said while still trying to catch his breath from laughing.

Now it was Achen's turn to look totally surprised.

"Yeah, it was me, please don't ask, it's a long story involving and old 'friend' of mine, the corpus disease and Azura", Merlac grinned.

"The corpus dis...err...Merlac what the hell happened there?", Achen yelled and ran after Merlac, who had already continued walking towards the harbour again.

---

Few minutes later, Merlac and Achen arrived to the harbour street, but they were not going to the harbour itself. Sadrith Mora was the home city of Telvanni wizards, and just opposite the docks was a large Telvanni tower, even bigger than the one on Tel Fyr. That was the place where the Telvanni councillors were currently in, and that was the place where Merlac and Achen had to go next.

"Umm... Achen, just to warn you, this might not be an easy one."

"Of course it wont, or do you have a particular reason why it should be difficult?"

"Yeah...actually I do. You see, I and the Telvanni have a common history, not a very friendly history that is."

"Oh... something I should know about? Does it have something to do with the exploding tower?"

"Well nothing particular, just... some time after arriving to Balmora, I had a little 'incident' with some Telvanni wizards in Balmora's South Wall Cornerclub."

"An incident? That does not sound good...anything else?"

"Yeah, one of those Telvannis there was actually Divayth Fyr himself, the owner of that exploded tower, and I bet you can guess how happy he was after first getting humiliated in Balmora and only some time later I woke him up in the middle of the night and it all ended up in a large, smoking hole in the side of that tower..."

"Err... oh crap, and now you are going there to get their vote to be their war leader?! Just great...wonderful...excellent...", Achen cursed as they walked towards the tower's doors.

As they walked closer, the large, metallic doors opened by themselves, magically, and they walked in. They arrived to a small, round hall with no doors except the ones behind them. Suddenly, a young Telvanni woman appeared in front of them from thin air.

"The council of high wizards is expecting you, please follow me.", the woman said and levitated through a large hole in the middle of the roof.

"I'm getting used to this 'you've been expected'-thing", Achen grinned and took a small potion of levitation from his pocket. He drank the bottle empty and levitated after the woman and Merlac.

After levitating few storeys upwards, they arrived to another pair of large, steel doors. The doors opened magically and the woman pointed them to go in. Merlac and Achen walked inside and the doors closed behind them. They found themselves in a large, round hall, like the one few storeys below, but this had higher roof and the decoration was differend. They were standing in the middle of the hall and around them next to the walls were seven large, wooden chairs and a Telvanni wizard in each of them.

"Oh crap", Merlac whispered.

"What is it?", Achen whispered back.

Merlac had recognised most of the wizard council. Left of them sat Divayth Fyr himself and two other wizards Merlac had met in the South Wall Corner club long time ago, and on their right side were sitting the Telvanni recruiter, Ahuma of Grandorl and two older wizards Merlac had not seen before.. In front of Merlac, sitting on the largest chair, was the grandmaster of House Telvanni.

Slowly, the old grandmaster stood up with the help of his wooden staff, and spoke.

"The word has spread, young conjurer. We know why you are here. We also know about the decisions of the two other great houses. With the Hlaalu and Redoran Great Houses behind you, you hope us to follow you as well. Is this true, young conjurer?", the grandmaster said.

"It is. I have come to seek an audience with the council of the Great House Telvanni. I wish to be declared the Hortator of your house, protector of all people in Morrowind.", Merlac answered firmly.

"You have indeed proven your abilities in speechcraft by uniting the two other houses, we thought this would be impossible. However, I still do not understand, why do you think the house Telvanni needs a war leader?"

"Grandmaster, the blight is spreading and Dagoth Ur is gathering his troops inside Red Mountain. I will unite the Great Houses of Morrowind and defeat him!", Merlac said with loud and clear voice.

"Ah, you are referring to the old Nerevarine prophecy. You are not only wishing to become the Hortator of all three houses, you also attempt to unite the old Ashlander tribes and declare yourself the incarnate of general Indoril Nerevar himself. Interesting..."

"Do you doubt the prophecy?", Merlac asked defiantly.

The grandmaster gave a tired laugh.

"I do not either believe in or doubt the prophecy, nor do I care about the Tribunal Temple's opinion about it. Personally, I just don't think you are the one mentioned in the prophecy, outlander."

Merlac was just about to argue, as he heard Achen cough behind him. As Merlac turned around, he saw Achen hanging few feet above the floor and holding his throat with his hands.

"Let him go!", Merlac yelled to the wizard council.

"How are you going to stop us?", Divayth Fyr said and rose up. Merlac saw he was pointing at Achen with his fingers.

Merlac wrapped his sleeves and pointed the grandmaster with his palm, showing him the ring of incarnate in his finger.

"I AM the Nerevar reborn, incarnate, bearer of Moon-and-Star, and I WILL unite the three Great Houses and four Ashlander tribes of Morrowind under one banner, defeat the false gods and protect the people of Morrowind!"

The four wizards Merlac already knew, stood up and wrapped their sleeves with their palms sparkling. The grandmaster sat down again and the two older wizards were still sitting and observing the situation. Merlac glanced at Achen, his face had already started to turn blue.

"I never should have given you the antidote, no matter how rare the daedric item!", Divayth Fyr yelled and pointed Merlac with his hand.

This situation was getting worse, but Merlac did not care. If this was the way the Telvanni wanted it, they would get it. Merlac grabbed a large soul gem from his robe's pocket and pressed it against his chest. The gem broke apart and the soul flew out of it, magically enchanting Merlac's robe. He had saved this soul of a winged twilight for something else, but if he didn't use every trick he had, he would lose this battle.

Divayth waved his hand and the already motionless body of Achen flew against the wall and fell to the floor. Merlac didn't hesitate and stroke immediately. He pointed at Divayth with his palm and fired a bright stunning spell. Divayth turned his attention away from Achen and conjured a counterspell, but Merlac saw he had almost surprised the Telvanni wizard.

The three other wizards started firing enormous fireballs towards Merlac, but his enchanted robe absorbed them almost completely and Merlac himself deflected the rest with magical shields. Divayth waved his both hands in wide angle, and summoned an enormous, black Kagouti in front of him. Merlac did not hesitate and fired a spell into a large chandelier above them, which fell down crushing the animal.

Merlac felt the power of his robe had started to wear out, so he decided to end the fight quickly. He fired three fireballs into the wall behind the two wizards on his right side, forcing them to take cover. While still evading flying pieces of stone, the both wizards received well-aimed stunning spells from Merlac's palm and they both collapsed motionless to the floor.

Two more spells hit Merlac's chest and he felt the robe did not absorb them completely anymore. Next direct hit would kill Merlac. Merlac turned towards Divayth again, and saw his hand sparkle again. Just before Divayth shot the fireball, a small dagger flew past Merlac's ear and struck through the wizard's palm. Divayth yelled in pain.

Merlac turned around to see who had thrown the dagger, and saw Achen barely standing with another dagger in his hand. Achen threw it at Divayth as well, but the sharp dagger exploded into pieces just before hitting the wizard's face.

"That is enough.", the grandmaster said and Merlac saw he was standing again, pointing at the remainings of the dagger with his staff.

Divayth used the opportunity and shot one more fireball at Merlac. The grandmaster waved his staff again and the fireball vaporised and Divayth was knocked down from his feet.

"I said enough!", the grandmaster yelled.

The other wizards sat down into their seats again, but only Divayth remained standing defiantly.

"Very well, Young wizard Merlac.", the grandmaster said slowly. "It seems my own wizards tried to bring humiliation to our house again, and you proved to be a capable wizard, capable beyond Mage's guild standards at least, so there might be something true about that prophecy..."

"So what is your decision?", asked Merlac, feeling surprised about the sudden change of attitudes.

"We shall vote. Every councillor has one vote, including myself. Divayth, please give us your vote first.", the grandmaster said and looked at him.

"I vote no!", the angry wizard said.

"I vote...yes.", the wizard on the other side of Merlac said.

"I vote no.", said the wizard next to him.

"I also say no", said the wizard next to Divayth.

The Telvanni grandmaster looked at the two old wizards, who had been quiet all this time. They both nodded.

"I say yes myself, so that makes the result three against and four for."

The grandmaster took a small bell from his robe's pocket tinkled it. The magical doors opened and a Telvanni woman appeared at the doorway.

"Could you please bring me the Robe of Hortator, it seems we are going to need it after all."

The woman bowed and walked away.

" Congratulations, young imperial. It seems all three Great Houses now follow your lead.", the grandmaster said slowly and Merlac almost though he saw a short smile inside the old man's beard.

---

Merlac was thinking at what he had done, as he and Achen walked outside the tower again. To be chosen as a Hortator of a Great House was an incredible achievement already, but uniting the three rival Houses under one leader, was too much to even dream of.

"So, that was it then.", said Achen who was still holding his sore throat.

"Yeah... sorry about getting caught in the crossfire, mate."

"Naah, I enjoyed throwing that dagger, made me feel useful in the middle of all those wizards", Achen grinned.

"I guess the Ashlander tribes are next then. Shall we go?"

They both gave a laugh and headed towards the Sadrith Mora's docks. It had indeed been a great step for Merlac, but the trials of the prophecy were not yet over...


	25. Haven for Ahemmusa

****

Chapter Twenty-four: Haven for Ahemmusa

Merlac knew he was dreaming again. He was in a large dungeon, somewhere deep underground. Around him were slowly flowing rivers of lava, and the air was hot and the toxic fumes burnt his throat. The cave was full of deformed creatures, who were building some kind of machines from wood and pieces of dwemer metal. To Merlac's horror, he recognised the deformed creatures; they were humans and dunmer, all infected by the terrible corpus disease. Merlac was able to see the fear and pain in the faces of those creatures, who had once been normal people of Vvardenfell, doing their daily tasks.

"...and now they are working for Dagoth Ur, I guess.", said a voice behind Merlac, as if knowing what he had been thinking.

Merlac turned around, surprised by the fact that nobody had actually talked to him in the dreams before. Even more surprised Merlac was when he saw Achen standing in front of him, staring at the working creatures.

"Achen...how...what are you doing here?", Merlac asked.

"I haven't told you, but I've been having these dreams as well, since we left the Cavern of the Incarnate. I guess Azura marked me as your companion in your journey, or something.", Achen said, sounding a bit sad, and walked closer.

"How do you know they are working for Dagoth Ur?"

"I saw this same place two nights ago. I saw the ash vampires who command these workers. They all work for the Dagoth family under Red Mountain, and the strongest of them are Dagoth's cousins and other relatives, like the one who you killed inside that Sixth House cult base."

Merlac looked to the other end of the cave and saw a long, dark figure standing and observing the workers. When one of the creatures stopped holding his head, the figure conjured a powerful spell of pain at it. The creature screamed and crawled in the ground.

"What are they building?"

"I'm not sure, but they sure as hell look like war machines, rams, scorpions, slings... they are preparing for war."

"War against what? What time is it?", Merlac wondered.

"I'm not sure, but from the look of those remainings of dwemer metal, it must be long after the war between the dwemer and the chimer. And as they are working for the Dagoth family, there really aren't many possibilities..."

"It's happening right now! They are preparing to invade Vvardenfell!"

"Do you think they could get past the Ghostfence?"

"Well, if some ash vampires have already managed to escape through it in small numbers, it's possible they can damage it enough to come through..."

"The only place where they can walk through with an army, is the Ghostgate. Elsewhere the mountain is too steep or the Ghostfence too strong."

"I agree. But how much time do we have?"

"Not much, Achen, not much..."

Slowly, the cave around them blurred and they both found themselves looking at the stars again. Merlac was right, they had to hurry, or they would not be able to stop the Dagoth family...

---

Early next morning, Merlac and Achen reached the Northeast tip of Vvardenfell, the place where the Ashlander tribe Ahemmusa lived. Now when the three Great Houses of Morrowind already followed Merlac's lead, the next part of the prophecy was to unite the four tribes. With Nibani Maesa as Merlac's guide, he had already gained trust of the Urshilaku tribe, and the next one on the list was the peace-loving community of Ahemmusa.

Unlike the first time Merlac visited Urshilaku camp, this time there were no warriors intercepting them. Merlac and Achen were able to reach the village before they met any Ashlanders at all. The people in the small camp stared curiously, some even scared, when the two companions walked through the camp towards the part where usually the tent of Ashkhan was situated. However, to Merlac's surprise, there was no Ashkhan's tent in this camp.

"Err... something's missing.", Merlac said, as they arrived to the centre of the camp, where was a decorated empty piece of ground, but no great tent.

"I can see that. Perhaps the Ashkhan lives elsewhere?"

"No, tribe leader's tent is always here, it is an Ashlander tradition."

"What now? Should we ask the tribe members?"

"No...let's go to see the wise woman, Sinnammu Mirpal. Nibani told me she would probably be happy to see us, but she didn't say anything about a missing Ashkhan...though maybe this was what she meant."

When Merlac and Achen arrived to the wise woman's tent, she was already standing in front of her tent.

"I am Sinnammu Mirpal, the wise woman of the poor tribe Ahemmusa. The word has spread and I know why you are here, Merlac the Imperial. Please, we shall continue in my tent.", the old woman greeted them and Merlac and Achen followed her inside the tent.

The woman sat down on a comfortable animal skin in the middle of the tent and Merlac and Achen sat down in front of her. The tent was much like Nibani's from the inside, as it was decorated with painted animal skins, home-made clothes and bone-jewellery.

"We thought we should first see your Ashkhan", Merlac started.

The wise woman looked down and looked sad. When she spoke, there was tiredness in her voice.

"The Ahemmusa have no Ashkhan, not anymore. Our great chief fell in battle long ago, and since that day our tribe has lived peacefully without choosing a new leader. No member of our clan is worthy. We have many capable warriors, but they are without a leader and nobody can train new, brave young ones. Every year our numbers diminish due to predators and thieves."

"How can I help?", Merlac asked without a delay.

The wise woman smiled.

"You have the right heart to become the protector of people, but there is indeed one thing I might ask you to do to us, as a favour, in return of naming you Nerevarine."

"We would be happy to help.", Achen confirmed Merlac's words.

"These lands of Vvardenfell no longer grow fertile enough to support our people, and the risk of looting adventurers increases all the time. Our tribe needs a safe place to live, but it must not be too far away from our current location, as the young ones cannot travel far. It also must be a cave of some sort, to protect us from ash storms and predators."

"Don't worry, we will find you a safe place to stay.", Merlac said firmly.

"No, there is no such place. There are no unoccupied caves or caverns in this part of Vvardenfell. However, I do have one place in my mind that would fill our needs. Please, follow me."

Merlac and Achen exchanges curious looks and followed the wise woman out of the tent. The woman walked through the camp on to a small hill surrounding it. Merlac and Achen followed her to the hill, and once on top of it, they saw the sea surrounding them.

"I never realised your tribe lives so near the coast", Merlac said.

"Fishing is our main source of food. Now, there, that is the place I want my people to move into.", the woman said and pointed at the nearby island a short distance from the beach.

Merlac looked at the direction Sinnammu was pointing at. He heard Achen to take a fast breath as well, as he recognised the dark figure of the towers of a daedric shrine.

"Err...don't tell me that is...", Achen started.

"...Ald Daedroth, one of the oldest Daedric shrines on Vvardenfell."

"You want us to make a daedric shrine a safe place to live for your tribe?", Merlac repeated.

"Yes. It is a perfect place with fertile island around it and protective caverns of the underground shrine. And don't worry about the daedra lords, they abandoned the place centuries ago."

"Oh... they did? I guess then it should be a safe place already, as looters have probably already stolen everything worth stealing."

"That is correct, but the shrine is not unoccupied.", the wise woman said, while still staring at the island.

"It isn't? Who lives in a place like that, except for the rats of course."

"Some unorganised members of the Daedra cult, a group of fanatics who still worship some daedric statues left there."

"Oh great... fanatics, anything else?", Merlac asked.

"Yes... but I do not wish to spoil your fun. Please come back and tell me when the place is safe enough for our children. Then, and only then, you will be named as the Nerevarine of tribe Ahemmusa."

The wise woman smiled widely to Merlac and Achen and walked back towards to village, leaving the two companions alone in the beach.

"Fanatics...", Merlac repeated.

"I didn't like the grin on that woman's face, Merlac, there is something else in this.

"I agree, but we both have been in more difficult places than that, so I believe we can handle few fanatics and... whatever there is."

"So... let's start building a raft then, shall we?"

---

A few hours later, Merlac and Achen had already paddled to the small island and started walking towards the shrine. As they approached, they heard a man yelling and they both pulled out their swords. They arrived to a small, open area in the middle of the island and on the other side of it they saw the entrance to the underground shrine. The only problem was that between them and the shrine was a battle going on.

"What the...?", Achen started.

They both kneeled behind a small rock to observe the situation. In front of them were several remainings of daedric statues and other ruins and a group of people with dark robes, firing spells to the other side of the open area.

"All right, those are the fanatics, but what are they shooting at?"

"Look, there!", Achen said and pointed at something glittering.

Merlac looked where Achen was pointing and saw two ordinators walking from behind a large, collapsed pillar, with their shields in front of them. The spells of the fanatics started striking them but doing only little damage to the enchanted golden shields. Behind these two ordinators came three more temple guards with their shiny armours, pointing at the fanatics with their crossbows.

"Fire!", one of the ordinators yelled and they fired simultaneously towards the fanatics. Merlac saw two of the fanatics to fall down with arrows in their chests and a third holding his wounded arm.

The two remaining fanatics fired few more spells uselessly towards the ordinators and then tried to ran away. The two nearest ordinators dropped their shields and fired stunning spells, which struck the fanatics in their backs. The ordinators surrounded the wounded fanatic and tied them all up.

"I think the battle is over...", Achen said.

"Yeah, this was probably the thing Sinnammu didn't mention, the temple is cleaning this shrine already."

"Yep, but there are usually several dozen daedra worshippers in one shrine, those ordinators might need some backup."

"Lets go and introduce ourselves, shall we?"

"Err... Merlac, wait a second. We'd better not mention the Ahemmusa or the prophecy", Achen said.

"Why not?"

"Because... well, like Nibani said, temple will not like you trying to become Nerevarine, and the ordinators are the guards of the temple."

"Oh... good point, what if we say we are here to just loot the place?"

"Sounds simple enough, lets go."

Merlac and Achen stood up and started carefully walking towards the ordinators. In the midway, one of them noticed the two men and alerted the others. All of them put their hands on their scimitars but none of them pulled them out.

"Hello there!", Merlac said happily.

"What is your business here, stranger?", the nearest Ordinator demanded.

"Me and my friend here are just wondering if we could enter the shrine of Ald Daedroth to loot the place, I hope we are not interrupting anything important?"

The Ordinator snorted and they all relaxed a bit.

"I'm pretty sure there is nothing left in this shrine, except the fanatics."

Merlac tried to look surprised.

"The Tribunal Temple sent us to either kill or capture them", a second Ordinator said.

"Looks like you did a good job.", Achen said and nodded towards the bodies.

"Our main patrol had already entered the shrine, when these idiots came out of the forest and we were caught in crossfire. I'm pretty sure these were the last ones outside the caverns though."

"Can we help or something?", Merlac asked while trying to sound innocent.

"Hah, we can handle ourselves, thank you, but you can always go down to the tomb and tell the patrol that we have secured the surface. As soon as the fanatics have been taken into custody, the shrine is all yours. Loot it, occupy it, do whatever you like."

"Ah, that would be generous of you, thank you very much. We'll just go now and explore the shrine, good day to you!", Achen said and he and Merlac started walking towards the shrine door.

As they had almost reached the door, one of the ordinators yelled to them. Something inside Merlac told him they might be in trouble.

"Hey, you two, wait a second!"

Merlac and Achen stopped and turned around, carefully taking a better grab of their swords.

"Do I know you from somewhere?", one of the ordinators said and pointed at Merlac.

"_Ordinators will mark you as their enemy_", Merlac said quietly to himself. These temple guards had surely seen his picture several times after he had become the Hortator of House Hlaalu.

"Umm... probably not, I haven't been near the cities lately, perhaps you mix me up with someone else?"

"Yeah...maybe...no, I'm sure I've seen you before."

The other ordinators started staring Merlac more closely.

Suddenly, a stunning spell hit one of the ordinators in the back and stunned him. The others turned around and saw one more fanatic kneeling behind a bush. One of the ordinators grabbed a crossbow and fired, killing the man with a direct hit in his chest.

"Aarh, one of them was still hiding in the bushes... ah, you two are still here? You can go, we wont delay you any longer, there still might be some of them left.", the Ordinator said to Merlac and Achen.

Happy for this lucky event, Merlac and Achen quickly opened the large door and entered the underground shrine.

"That was close", Achen said as they walked down a narrow corridor.

"Too close, we might not be as lucky when we visit Vivec next time."

Soon they arrived to a bit larger corridor with a crossing. Two ordinators appeared from the tunnel in front of them, carrying the body of a dead fanatic.

"Hey, who are you?", the first Ordinator demanded when he noticed the two men.

"Err... hi, your friends on the surface let us in, we have nothing to do with the fanatics, just take them away for all we care.", Achen said quickly.

The ordinators looked at each other, nodded to Merlac and Achen and continued walking towards the surface.

"So, which corridor should we take?", Merlac asked.

"Well, the structure of daedric shrines is usually the same, so the corridor on the right probably leads to small, outer shrine rooms, and the corridor in front of us leads to the inner shrine. The ordinators have probably already cleared the outer parts of the shrine, so I guess we should then continue to the inner parts, there might still be some battles left."

"You're right, the sooner the ordinators clean this place, the sooner we can go and tell the Ahemmusa the good news."

Merlac and Achen continued walking along the dark corridors deeper and deeper underground, until they finally arrived to a small room with a large door made of daedric metal. The door was half open, and one could hear yelling and sounds of fighting from the other side.

"Sounds like someone's still home.", Achen said and pulled out his longsword again.

"Let's join the party", Merlac replied and pulled out the ebony sword Bolvyn Venim had given him after their duel in the great arena of Vivec.

Merlac and Achen kicked the door open together and rushed into the inner shrine. The room was actually a large hall similar to the one Achen had visited under fort Firemoth. In the middle was standing a large daedric statue and everything around it was total chaos. There were several dead or dying fanatics on the floor and even two ordinators were badly injured and trying to crawl to safety.

As soon as Merlac stepped inside the room, he had to evade a flying body, which crashed into the stone wall next to him. A gigantic roar filled the hall as a huge, grey ogrim tried to smash an Ordinator with his enormous fists.

"What the...?"

"Looks like the fanatics had a little pet", Achen said.

"A little pet?!", Merlac yelled and evaded another flying fanatic.

The ordinators were ignoring the panicking fanatics and were surrounding the ogrim, trying to kill it with combined spells.

"That ogrim is bigger than a bull netch, it's a one hell of a job to get that baby down...", Achen moaned.

"We must help them.", Merlac said suddenly.

"Err... are you mad? Why can't we just let the ogrim eat the fanatics and ordinators and maybe it will leave us alone?"

"Because I don't think the Ahemmusa will consider this a safe place if it contains a raging ogrim."

Achen shook his head and ran after Merlac, who had already started fighting his way towards the monster. Along the way, Merlac stunned two fanatics and Achen kicked third in the stomach.

"Can you keep me safe for a few seconds?", Merlac yelled over the noises of battle, while evading the crossfire from the ordinators and the fanatics.

"Err... sure, you want me to feed that ogrim as well?", Achen grinned and knocked another fanatic out of his feet.

Merlac knew he needed something nastier than a stunning spell this time. It was many times harder to summon a fireball now when he was not affected by the hatred-producing incense inside the Sixth House base. However, he knew he had the skill, he just had to concentrate just for a few seconds.

Achen blocked a spell heading towards Merlac with his shield. Merlac closed his eyes and his hands started sparkling. Few ordinators noticed what Merlac was doing and jumped out of the way. Merlac waved his hands in large circle and threw an enormous firespell at the Ogrim. It struck with full force right into the ogrim's chest, burning a large, smoking hole into it.

The ogrim made a loud roar and started swinging in pain. It hit one of the ordinators with his fist and despite the strong armour, the Ordinator flew across the room like an empty crate. The other ordinators hit the monster with few more spells, until the enormous creature moaned and fell against the large statue, collapsing it over himself.

"Oh... excellent timing, a skilful battlemage was just what we needed out here.", one of the ordinators said to Merlac as the ogrim's body didn't move anymore.

"Don't mention it.", Merlac grinned.

"Hey, they are getting away!", Achen yelled from the other side of the room, as two remaining fanatics ran out of the hall towards the surface.

"Let them go, we have men on the surface that will catch them", another Ordinator said to Achen.

Achen sheathed his sword and tapped Merlac into his shoulder.

"Nice job, it didn't even have a chance."

"Indeed, nice job considering you're just an adventurer....aren't you? Or have I seen you before?", the Ordinator wondered and started staring at Merlac more closely.

"Err... I think your friends on the surface said that you should collect the bodies rather fast and then return to the mainland, next task is waiting or something...", Achen interrupted.

"Oh... of course, you two probably want to keep everything you find down here, well, it's all yours. Probably nothing left though. Men! Gather the bodies, treat the injured and then lets move out!", the Ordinator instructed his men and left Achen and Merlac standing next to the large corpse of the ogrim.

It took the ordinators several hours to transport the bodies and the wounded out of the shrine. The highest ranking Ordinator thanked Merlac and Achen one more time, until the group of temple guards touched their Almsivi amulets and disappeared back to the mainland.

"So... I guess the shrine is empty now.", said Merlac as they were standing outside the shrine entrance, this time alone.

"Yeah, now we can go and...wait, there's somebody moving around there!", Achen whispered and pointed at the forest.

Merlac lowered his hand to his sword's hilt and stared where Achen was pointing at. There was indeed somebody moving there. Finally, a small group of people walked out of the forest and continued towards the shrine. Merlac immediately recognised most of them and relaxed again.

The group was led by Sul-Matuul himself, closely followed by Nibani Maesa and Sinnammu Mirpal, the Ahemmusa wise woman. They were guarded by few Urshilaku warriors.

Merlac was about to greet his friends as they approached, but then he noticed the sad expressions on their faces.

"I'm afraid we bring bad news", the Urshilaku Ashkhan said as they arrived to speaking distance.

"What is it?", Achen asked worried.

Nibani shook his head sadly and spoke.

"We bring terrible news indeed..."


	26. Fate of Morrowind

****

Chapter Twenty-five: Fate of Morrowind

Merlac stared both Sul-Matuul and Nibani Maesa in turns.

"Well? What is it?", he asked impatiently, feeling that something was indeed terribly wrong.

"While you were away, something horrible happened. A large horde of blighted animals attacked the Zainab camp, the Ashlander village you were meant to visit next. The few survivors reached the Urshilaku lands and told us the animals were like haunted, and they killed everybody in their way. About dozen warriors and few women survived, but they saw the Ashkhan Kaushad die while trying to protect his people."

Merlac stared at Nibani in disbelief.

"You mean... the Zainab village destroyed, and almost every people of their tribe killed.", Nibani continued.

"And that is not all", interrupted Sul-Matuul.

"Not all?!", Achen yelled.

"At the same time an exceptionally strong sand storm hit the Erabenimsun camp, and though the Erabenimsun are a tribe of brave fighters, they didn't stood a chance against the powers of nature. We found only one survivor from the remainings of the camp, but she died soon after. She was the last of their tribe.", Sul-Matuul said and Merlac was able to see a small tear on the Ashkhan's cheek.

"The Zainab...and the Erabenimsun...gone? Their Ashkhans dead?", Merlac managed to say, still not fully believing his ears.

Sinnammu Mirpal nodded sadly and stepped closer.

"Now with the two remaining ashlander tribes gone, we will have to hurry. There is no doubt who is responsible for these acts. Dagoth Ur still has the heart of Lorkhan, and is using it. He knows about the prophecy and sees you as threat. You must not let this stop you. As the wise woman and temporally leader of the Ahemmusa, I name you the Nerevarine, protector of our tribe."

Sinnammu handed Merlac a small amulet, and looked him into his eyes.

Nibani Maesa also stepped closer and spoke.

"The three Great Houses of Morrowind now follow your lead. Two Ashlander tribes call you Nerevarine, the protector. The prophecy is not filled, but with the two other tribes now gone, it does not matter.", Nibani said.

"Do you mean we have hope?", Merlac asked.

"There is always hope, as long as you live. However, I can no longer guide you. You must decide yourself what to do to save Morrowind. Whatever you decide, the Great Houses and the Ashlander tribes will follow you, and you will walk with Azura's blessing."

Merlac looked around. Sul-Matuul, Nibani Maesa, Sinnammu Mirpal and the Urshilaku warriors stared at him, waiting. Merlac turned his head and saw Achen also looking at him. This was it, it was not up to him to choose how to continue. The destiny of Morrowind was now on his hands, but Merlac felt uneasy; too many lives depended on his decision. Dagoth Ur had already shown his might by annihilating the two Ashlander tribes, and his armies were soon ready to march against Ghostfence. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to do.

"Dagoth Ur will soon launch a full scale attack against the Ghostfence. We can't let the corpus, creatures and ash vampires to spread over Vvardenfell. Our priority is to stop the attack and then intrude into the Red Mountain itself.", Merlac said with confident voice.

"How do we do that?", Achen asked.

"We need the help of the Great Houses. Achen and I must immediately travel to the city of Vivec and contact the councillors."

"How can we help?", Sul-Matuul asked.

"First I want you to evacuate your camps, you saw what Dagoth Ur did to the Zainab and the Erabenimsun, he can do the same to you. Save your own people first and then gather the warriors you can, we are going to need them soon. I will send the word when the time is full, I will meet you at the Ghostgate then."

Sul-Matuul nodded to Merlac, waved his hand towards his warriors and two of them ran away, carrying out the order.

"Now... it's time to see if those councillors can keep their words", Merlac said and took an Almsivi amulet out of his pocket. Achen did the same.

"Merlac, you ARE the Nerevarine reborn, you will succeed, good luck, my friend.", Nibani said and made a mark of luck into his forehead with her hands.

"I will not fail.", Merlac said and touched the amulet. Merlac and Achen disappeared into thin air, leaving the Ashlanders praying for them...

---

Only few moments later, Merlac and Achen appeared in the middle of one of the bridges connecting the cantons in Vivec. Merlac put the amulet back to his pocket and started walking fast towards the ministry canton, closely followed by Achen.

"What are you planning, exactly?", Achen asked.

"If my instincts are correct, the Ashlander tribes were not the only places where Dagoth Ur struck. He wants to spread chaos over Vvardenfell, not only prevent the prophecy."

"So..."

"So if anything unusual has happened, the Great House councils and the ministry of the Tribunal temple are the first to know.", Merlac answered as they walked along the bridge to the ministry canton.

"You are just going to march in to see the ministry? But the temple isn't really keen on that prophecy of yours..."

"I know, but it is not the ministry I am going to meet, but the Great House councillors that will meet in the ministry hall when something big happens."

"How...err...how do you know that? And can you be sure they are there already?"

"Something Caius told me long ago, he thought it would be useful for me to know how the chain of command works around here. The ministry has no power at all, it is the Great Houses and the Temple that rules Morrowind. They have nothing to do with each other, but when something threats the entire island, they will gather together to discuss options. And yes, I'm rather sure they are here already."

"What about Lord Vivec?", Achen asked while trying to keep up with Merlac.

"He's just a figure on the top, he just plays God and it is the temple that makes the decisions."

"...and the Emperor?"

"The Emperor lives on the mainland of Tamriel, on the other side of the sea, he's not that interested in Morrowind's business. Oh well, actually he is interested enough because he set me free, he thought there might be something true about this prophecy."

"This all is starting to make sense... The Emperor knows he cant just send his armies to confront Dagoth Ur, the Tribunal temple would never allow him to do that, and he knows Morrowind needs somebody that unites us."

"Exactly. If everything goes well, we can contact the Great House councillors before the Temple here manages to act and Lord Vivec even notices what is happening under his nose. I doubt he will like all this, as the prophecy proofs he's not a god."

Merlac and Achen arrived to the High Fane of the Ministry canton, in front of the doors of ministry of wisdom. As they walked closer, four ordinators approached and blocked their way.

"Go away, citizen, the ministry is closed at the moment."

"I must see the Great House councillors immediately.", Merlac demanded.

"I don't know what you are talking about, now move on or..."

The Ordinator was about to say something, but suddenly he went quiet and just stared Merlac.

"Hey, I know this man! He is the one who disobeys the temple and spreads the word of a false prophecy! Get him!", the Ordinator yelled and all four guards drew out their scimitars.

Both Merlac and Achen drew out their swords and prepared for battle, but they knew they didn't have time for this. A fight with an Ordinator was the last thing anyone on this island wanted, and Merlac just had four of them in front of him.

"Stand aside.", Merlac demanded again.

The nearest Ordinator didn't say anything, but swinged his shiny golden blade towards Merlac. Merlac blocked the hit with his ebony broadsword and stunned the guard with his other hand. The three other ordinators were just about to charge, as a male voice yelled behind them.

"Wait!", a man yelled behind the ordinators.

The ordinators turned around and saw a man dressed in the yellow robe of the tribunal temple, standing in the doorway.

"But sir, he is the false incarnate! He defies the temple!", one of the ordinators said to the man.

"No...err...let him in. Both of them.", the man said, but his voice was uneasy.

"Sir? Inside the ministry?"

"You heard me, let them come!", the man yelled again, this time more confidently.

Merlac and Achen sheathed their swords again and walked past the angry ordinators.

"My name is Danso Indules and....err...you two should come with me. Quickly please.", the man said.

Merlac and Achen looked at each other and then followed the man inside the ministry of wisdom. For few minutes, they walked down several stairs, until they arrived to a large pair of doors, certainly deep underwater.

"This is the ministry hall, all this is very exceptional, as no outsiders are usually allowed to these meetings but... you should see by yourselves.", the man said and opened the doors.

Merlac and Achen walked inside and found themselves in a large, round hall with dozens of rows of seats around them. There had to be over a hundred noblemen, ministers, high priests and officers in the hall, everybody yelling and cursing to each other. It was a total chaos inside the hall.

"This somehow reminds me of that daedric shrine with the ogrim", Achen grinned and Merlac couldn't help noticing the similarity.

Merlac waited for a minute, but nobody still had noticed the two new people in the hall. Merlac had good time to observe the people around him; on his left were the councillors of the Great House Hlaalu and other Hlaalu noblemen, and in the shape of semicircle next to the Hlaalu representatives were sitting the councillors of House Telvanni and other dunmer wizards, next to them the Redoran council and on the other side of the hall, opposite to Hlaalu, were sitting twelve high priests of the Tribunal Temple.

The man who had led Merlac and Achen into the hall was trying to catch everyone's attention, but everybody just ignored him and continued yelling to each other. Merlac decided this was enough, and conjured a stunning spell at a large chandelier high above them, which fell down and crushed to the stone floor loudly. Everyone in the room was startled by this and suddenly it was completely silent in the hall.

Merlac stepped forward and spoke with loud and clear voice, so that everyone in the hall could hear him.

"I am Merlac, but you all probably know me. Part of you knows me as the enemy of the Tribunal Temple, follower of a false prophecy. Most of you know me as Hortator, protector of people and war-leader of the Great Houses Hlaalu, Redoran and Telvanni."

Merlac was able to hear accepting murmur from the Great House councillors and silent debate among the temple priests. As nobody said anything, Merlac continued.

"This time it is I, who knows why YOU are here. You are here to discuss about the fate of Morrowind. You have all witnessed the spreading blight disease and strange ash storms. You are all suspecting the same enemy, or you wouldn't be here arguing together."

One of the temple priests stood up and spoke.

"The Temple has not changed its point of view to this false prophecy you are referring to, I must demand you to..."

"NONSENSE!", a Redoran councillor interrupted the priest. "You have seen all the proofs that all hell is breaking out of Red Mountain and still you whine about what is false and what is true! Even if Dagoth Ur himself kicks you in the butt, you still read your books and deny the truth!"

As soon as it had ended, the yelling and cursing started again in the hall. This time Merlac did not wait, but fired another spell at the remainings of the chandelier.

"Quiet!", Merlac yelled and the hall became silent again.

"Very soon, Dagoth Ur will launch a full scale attack towards the Ghostfence, probably the Ghostgate itself."

"That is impossible, the Ghostfence has endured for centuries, it cannot fall!", a temple priest yelled.

"Wrong. I have personally witnessed several ash vampires outside the Ghostfence and you have seen by yourselves that it does not prevent Dagoth Ur from spreading destruction.", Merlac said confidently.

"What do you suggest?", asked a Telvanni wizard.

Merlac gathered all the strength he had and spoke as officially as possible.

"As the Hortator of the Great Houses of Morrowind, I need an united army of Morrowind, that will confront the Dagoth Ur's army at the Ghostgate. During the battle, myself and a small group of companions -- Merlac nodded at Achen -- will fight our way inside Red Mountain and find Dagoth Ur."

To Merlac's surprise, the councillors of House Hlaalu were the first to stand up.

"We, as the representatives of the Great House Hlaalu, will support Merlac, and offer our military resources to his disposal."

Merlac nodded to the Hlaalu councillors and smiled.

"House Hlaalu fights for Morrowind, who else will answer Merlac's call?", Achen said loudly.

"House Redoran will answer Merlac's call!", yelled a Redoran councillor and Merlac saw all Redoran councillors stand up as well.

"Excellent!", Merlac rejoiced.

"The Great House Telvanni will support Merlac by sending battlemages to fight with the Redoran and Hlaalu troops.", said a wizard and also the Telvanni councillors stood up."

"So be it! Form the divisions!", Merlac yelled.

Despite the angry temple priests, the rest of the hall was cheering and applauding to Merlac. Merlac and Achen stood in the middle of the floor, enjoying the amount of strength they had united.

Suddenly, the cheering and applauding stopped, as the large doors opened. A man walked in, stopped in front of Merlac and spoke so that entire hall was able to hear his words.

"Lord Vivec wants to meet you, now.", he said...


	27. Lord Vivec

****

Chapter Twenty-six: Lord Vivec

Merlac stared at the man and he felt the entire hall was staring at him.

"Excuse me?", Merlac was able to say.

"Lord Vivec himself wishes to speak with you, Merlac the Imperial.", the man repeated.

"Err... about what?", Merlac asked, knowing this could not be anything good.

"I do not know, but he urged you to meet him in his palace as soon as you are finished here."

Merlac looked at Achen, who just shrug his shoulders.

"And you must go alone.", the man continued before Merlac was able to ask about Achen.

"Very well, lead the way."

Merlac knew this had been inevitable. Sooner or later Vivec would notice him. What would he do to him? Merlac followed the man to the first steps of the stairs leading to Vivec's palace. The building was indeed magnificent, it was twice as big as the other cantons in the city and even the stairs were as long as the whole ministry canton.

"'I am not allowed to come any further, Lord Vivec waits you in the palace.", the man said and walked away.

Merlac looked one more time the large door in the other end of the stairs, and started climbing. Though he was physically in good condition and his legs strong, Merlac was rather exhausted when he finally reached the last step. After resting for a few seconds, Merlac gathered his courage and knocked the large, golden door in front of him.

Merlac waited, but nothing happened. He was just about to knock again, as the large door suddenly opened by itself. Merlac took a deep breath and walked in.

The view was unbelievable. The entire palace was actually one, huge, round hall, with only few large statues near the walls. Merlac walked slowly, looked around him and wondered the few, tall, stone pillars around him. He heard the large door closing behind him.

Suddenly, a rather young but strong male voice spoke, and the words echoed in the large room.

"Welcome, Merlac. Please, come forth. You have no need to be scared of me."

Merlac walked closer to the centre of the hall, and saw a huge pillow-like stage in the middle. About two feet above it, sat Lord Vivec himself, levitating in the air. Merlac stopped only few meters in front of him. He wondered if he should kneel or something, but instead he decided to do nothing.

Merlac saw Vivec's face had several similarities to the dunmer, but his skin was light blue and his eyes calmer. Slowly, Vivec stopped levitating and softly landed on the pillow.

"Like I said, welcome, Merlac.", the god said. Merlac was surprised to notice the friendliness in his voice.

"Hi... I was told you had something to say to me.", Merlac said, unsure if he should be polite or rude towards the false god."

Vivec smiled.

"Before we start talking about more important matters, I want to clear few things with you. First of all, I'm not a god."

Merlac felt his mouth dropping open, this was the last thing he had expected Vivec to say. Noticing the puzzled look on Merlac's face, Vivec continued.

"I do have the powers of a god, but I used to be no more of a god than you are at the moment. Using the Kagrenac's tools felt like a good idea back then, but many years have I felt guilty about it. In our arrogance, we thought we could more good than bad to Morrowind by giving ourselves the powers of gods, and creating the Tribunal Temple."

"Err...who do you mean by you?", Merlac asked.

"Lady Almalexia, Lord Sotha Sil and myself, of course. We were the three first councillors of Morrowind, and the leaders of the Tribunal Temple, the Tribunate."

"No offence, but I really didn't expect you to..."

"...admit that I'm not a god?", Vivec continued and gave a laugh. "Yes, few years ago I would not have. I can remember a letter I sent to a old priest of mine long time ago. The priest was called Malur Omayn, and I threatened him of challenging a god. Today, he is a so called dissident priest, a member of the cult who believes in the Nerevarine prophecy. I'm still ashamed of my words back then..."

"Why did you ask me to come here?", Merlac asked suddenly.

"Two reasons. One, because I wanted to talk with you, Merlac. I wanted to see with my own eyes the man who defies the Temple and even unites the Great Houses of Morrowind."

"And two...?"

"Two, because I can help you."

"Err... why do you want to help me, if the last thing you want is the people to believe in this prophecy?"

"Merlac, long time ago, Azura cursed us for declaring ourselves gods, she told us that one day, one hero would unite Vvardenfell and defeat the false gods. Back then, I didn't know or care if it would be the reborn general Nerevar, a pawn of the Emperor, or just a joke of Azura, who would fulfil the prophecy. Back then, I simply didn't believe in the prophecy."

Vivec took a long breath and then continued.

"Now...things are different. It seems you really are the incarnation of general Nerevar himself and now stand in front of me because you fulfil the prophecy."

"I still don't understand why you are not trying to stop me.", Merlac said.

"Merlac, my powers are diminishing everyday and I do not know why. I have tried to contact Lady Almalexia and Sotha Sil, but received no answer. It can be weeks, or it can be years, before my powers are the powers of a simple mortal, and if the same is happening to all three of us, that leaves Morrowind vulnerable. Sotha Sil hasn't left his clockwork city since we got our powers, and Almalexia is more concerned about Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind in the mainland."

"So..."

"While our powers diminish, Dagoth Ur becomes stronger and stronger. Soon, he will invade Morrowind, even threaten Tamriel itself, and we can do nothing to stop him. It is time for me to forget my pride and believe in the prophecy. You are the only one who can stop Dagoth Ur and his Sixth House."

Merlac couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all this, it was Lord Vivec himself who believed in him and the prophecy. It was Vivec himself who needed Merlac's help.

"You said something about helping me, how?"

"You might be unaware of it, but Dagoth Ur gains his powers from the Heart of Lorkhan. As long as the item exists, Dagoth Ur cannot be beaten."

"I know about the Heart of Lorkhan", Merlac said.

"Good, but what you do not know, is that you cannot destroy the heart with normal weapons. You need two sacred items that have been long gone, the two most powerful magical items in Morrowind."

"Are you talking about Nerevar's blade and that stuff?", Merlac wondered.

"No, though I am impressed by your knowledge about your ancient, now lost sword, I am not referring to it. I am talking about two items that may look like mortal weapons, but are actually much more. These holy artefacts are the Sunder, and the blade of Keening. During the great war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, these two artefacts were lost in the Red Mountain. It is there, where the Dagoth family studies them, tries to reveal their secrets, and it is there where they must be acquired from."

"All right, thanks for the advice, I'll pick them up on my way to meet Dagoth Ur. Anything else?"

Vivec gave a laugh again.

"You remind me of the original general Nerevar, always so anxious of getting himself in the trouble. Yes, there is something else. You cannot just use Sunder and Keening with your bare hands, their powers would kill you. However, I have something that will protect you from them and many other things."

Vivec waved his hand and one of the small chests behind him opened. Merlac saw something shiny and glittering rise out of the chest and floating towards him. The object stopped in the air in front of Merlac and slowly landed on his hands. It was a gauntlet.

"That is the last of the three powerful artefacts you are going to need to defeat Dagoth Ur. It is called the Wraithguard, a magically enchanted gauntlet, an extremely powerful artefact from times before the Temple, or the Dwemer wars. It will protect you from the Sunder's and Keening's uncontrolled strength, as well as it resists fire, ice and shock. Whoever wields this great artefact, will be immune to all diseases and poisons. There is no amount of money in whole Tamriel to buy this item, there is no armour to resist its might. Use it well, Merlac, use it for good."

Merlac carefully pulled the shiny gauntlet into his right arm, and immediately felt the warmth and strength flowing inside him.

"You know what to do, Merlac. You know how to do it. There is nothing more I can help you with, you must go now. The Great Houses are forming the divisions as we speak, and though they are indeed the greatest army Morrowind has seen since the war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, it cannot win without a leader. Go, Merlac. The destiny of Morrowind is at your hands!", Vivec said and gave a short bow to Merlac.

Merlac looked at the gauntlet in his arm and nodded. Without any more delay, Merlac turned around and walked out of Vivec's palace. The dice was rolling and the pieces moving...


	28. Battle of Red Mountain

****

Chapter Twenty-seven: Battle of Red Mountain

Merlac and Achen began their journey towards the Red Mountain as soon as they had rested. Merlac had never been near the Ghostgate or the Ghostfence itself, but the travelling was not a problem, as the mountain itself could be seen almost in all corners of Vvardenfell.

During their four-day-travel, the whether changed daily. The nearer they got to the mountain, more often ash storms clouded the sun. Despite the awful weathers, few times per day a scout from one of the Great Houses reached them to inform about the progress of gathering troops. Merlac was surprised how fast the Great Houses had been able to form the divisions and send them towards the Ghostgate, as he and Achen had trouble just walking forward in the constant storms.

Finally, in the morning of the fifth day after meeting Lord Vivec, Merlac and Achen finally reached the heavily guarded Ghostgate. For the first ten minutes, they just stood on a high hill and stared at the magical barrier surrounding the mountain and protecting Vvardenfell from the blight and the creatures inside it. In the barren, grey hills around the mountain, the sparkling blue magical wall looked like extremely strong polar lights, which continued into the horizon as far as Merlac was able to see.

Between the Ghostfence and Merlac, was a large, open area, large enough to fit whole city of Vivec there. Achen took a long breath, as he saw the thousands and thousands of warriors camping in the open area. He was able to recognise the bonemold armours of the Hlaalu and Redoran warriors, as well as the Telvanni elite guards and battlemages. However, there was one large group of people Merlac was not able to identify from that distance.

"Wow, I've never seen that many people in once place", Achen marvelled.

"Neither have I.", Merlac agreed.

"Hmm... who are those behind the Hlaalu warriors?"

"I was just wondering the same. We cant be sure from this far away, but from the look of their armours I'd say they are not either Hlaalu or Redoran."

"Yeah, and they can't be Telvanni either, their house don't have an army that big. Besides, the other Telvanni's are on the other side of the area."

Merlac and Achen started walking down the hill they had been standing on, wondering at the same time who the unknown group of warriors belonged to. As they reached the bottom of the valley, a group of people walked closer and greeted them. Most of them Merlac and Achen already knew.

"Ah, there you are! We've been expecting you!", a tall dunmer in ebony cuirass said and shook hands with Merlac and Achen.

"Bolvyn Venim, I expect you speak on the behalf of the Redoran troops, am I right?", Merlac said and nodded to the man.

"Yes, I will fight in the front line under your command, Hortator.", Venim said and grinned.

"Why don't you introduce your friends here", said Achen to Venim and pointed at the group of people around them.

Merlac looked around. His mouth turned into a smile as he saw Sul-Matuul and about twenty Urshilaku warriors.

"Merlac, I'm here as you requested.", the Ashkhan said and bowed politely to him.

"Here is the leader of the Hlaalu troops and his second-in-command.", said Venim and pointed at the two men standing next to the ashlander warriors. They both had a full set of dark-green glass armour. Merlac nodded to them.

"...and I believe you already know some of the Telvanni battlemages", Venim continued and pointed at the eight dunmer wizards and their guards on the other side of him.

Merlac saw Divayth Fyr and the other high wizards nodding slightly to Merlac, but to no-one's surprise they did not smile.

"The fine men on your left are the officers of the Imperial legions in Vvardenfell. I'm sure you find it rather pleasing to know that the Emperor himself ordered the whole garrisons near Balmora and Ald'ruhn to join this battle under your command.", Vemin said and couldn't help grinning.

"Caius Muritius, at your service, sir!", the nearest officer saluted Merlac, with his Imperial armour shining.

"Great to have you here!", Merlac thanked the officer.

"Just doing our job."

"So... how many of you are here, total?", Merlac asked, while starting to put on a magically enchanted cuirass one of the Redoran councillors had donated to him.

"With the Imperial reinforcements, I'd say almost fifteen thousand.", Vemin answered.

"Fifteen thousand?!", Merlac breathed and accidentally dropped one of the screws.

"That's what happens when you manage to unite something as powerful as the Great Houses of Morrowind", Achen grinned next to him.

"So, what do we...", the Hlaalu leader started, but he was interrupted as the ground started rumbling slightly.

"What the hell?", Achen cursed.

"We'd better get ready for anything", Venim said and took a small horn from his belt. He took a deep breath and blew at the horn, making a sharp sound that echoed from the Ghostfence. One by one, several horns answered from amongst the camping group of warriors.

Merlac and Achen watched impressed as 15 000 Dunmer and Imperial warriors started forming battle formations and putting out the campfires. Merlac was almost startled as another horn, this time a much bigger one, hooted in the valley.

Suddenly, something colourful erupted from the mountain. The whole army, including the group around Merlac, stopped moving and stared at the phenomenon. The purple, sparkling phenomenon rose high above the mountain, until it suddenly changed direction and fell towards the Ghostfence.

"Oh crap, it's going to hit the...", Achen started, but too late. The magic hit the Ghostgate with enormous power, smashing the entire small fortress into burning pieces, which rained over the startled army.

Then Merlac saw it; behind the burning remains of the Ghostgate, stood thousands and thousands of creatures, blighted animals, corpus monsters, ash vampires and giant ogrims. As the ash clouds covered the sky almost completely, the army of those creatures looked even scarier than Merlac had feared. Luckily, Merlac did not freeze, but acted fast.

"They're coming! Prepare your troops!", Merlac yelled to Hlaalu and Redoran leaders.

"Archers!", Venim yelled and blew into his horn again. Only few seconds later, hundreds of arrows darted towards the creatures, which had now started coming through the remainings of the wall.

"Merlac! You'd better hurry, we'll hold them here!", Venim yelled to Merlac and rushed towards the frontline.

"Sul-Matuul, you and your warriors come with me and Achen to the mountain. The others will remain here and protect the valley, no ash vampires must be allowed to leave the hills!", Merlac yelled to the group.

"Let's go then!", Achen yelled to the small remaining group and drew out his longsword. The Urshilaku warriors drew out their weapons as well and Merlac grabbed his ebony broadsword.

The group started jogging towards the front line, as another swarm of arrows whistled over them and struck the creatures. Despite the rain of arrows, the monster army started running over the still-burning ruins of the Ghostfence and charged against the waiting troops. The nearest Redoran platoon drew out their swords simultaneously and prepared to intercept the creatures.

Merlac couldn't help noticing the similarity of the scene to the battle he had seen in his dreams long time ago. That battle had taken place at the same valley, between the Chimer and the Dwemer. While still jogging towards the Ghostgate, Merlac saw a familiar, small, rock hill on his right side. It was the same hill general Nerevar had been standing in that dream. However, in that dream, there had not been a mountain, just another dwemer fortress.

Just before the group reached the burning remains of the gate, the two opposite armies struck together. Hundreds of animals and creatures swarmed over the fearless Redoran warriors. Though they were only brainless animals and creatures, they tried to kill their enemies by using brute numbers and force. When the first line of warriors fell in battle, the next one took their place without hesitation. Another swarm of arrows flew over their heads and struck the enemy. Merlac knew they had to hurry, the longer they waited the more Vvardenfell's people would die in the battle...

As the battle was raging at the remainings of the main gate of Ghostgate, Merlac and his companions used another, a smaller, only partially broken gate a bit farther away. While trying to avoid detection by the creature army, the small group started climbing the rocky paths towards the top of the mountain.

"We are heading for the crater of the mountain, yes?", Sul-Matuul asked after few minutes of walking.

"No, Lord Vivec told me I have to acquire two items first, before we can defeat Dagoth Ur.", Merlac yelled over the raging wind.

"Where can we find these items you are talking about?"

"The artefacts are called the Sunder and Sword of Keening, according to Vivec they can be found from the two dwemer forts on the slopes of Red Mountain."

"I have heard of these holy weapons, their might is unbelievable. However, the second fort is on the other side of the mountain, we will never reach Dagoth Ur's chambers in time unless we split up. Me and few of my men will acquire the other, you two and the rest of my warriors should go for the other one."

Merlac thought for a minute and then agreed reluctantly.

"Ok, but remember this, it's important, you must NOT touch the weapon -- whichever you find -- with your bare hands, or it will kill you. Only the one who has the wraithguard may safely whield Sunder or Keening, and we only have one of these gauntlets.", Merlac said and pointed at the shining magical gauntlet in his right arm.

"Very well, we will now leave for the furthest fortress, meet you as soon as possible near the edge of the crater."

"Good luck, Sul-Matuul, and be careful. There can still be some ash vampires left who have not joined the battle."

"Do not worry, Nerevarine, though our people have the hearts of a warrior, our ancestors left us few spells as well. Walk with fortune, Merlac!"

The group split in two and continued towards their chosen targets. Though Merlac tried to keep his concentration in front of him, he couldn't help worrying for Sul-Matuul and his companions. Though they were indeed great warriors, they might not be a match for an ash vampire or some other Sixth House wizard. Then Merlac realised that the same problem might be his own trouble as well...


	29. The Sunder and Keening

****

Chapter Twenty-eight: The Sunder and Keening

Merlac and Achen had walked almost three hours in the ash storm, hoping they had taken the right path to the Dwemer fortress. Because of the constant darkness and flying sand, it was already impossible to see even the bright Ghostfence in the horizon. Occasionally, they were surprised by a creature or blighted animal, but the four Urshilaku warriors always reacted fast and killed them with arrows before they came too close.

"Err... Merlac?", Achen yelled while covering his eyes from the flying sand.

"Yeah?", Merlac yelled back.

"Don't tell me we are lost or something?"

"We are not lost."

"Oh... that's relieving. Where are we then?"

"Somewhere around Red Mountain."

"Ha ha, very funny. I'd kick you if I saw where you are."

"I think there is something ahead of us, I see a large, dark silhouette there!", one of the ashlanders yelled.

Merlac and Achen tried to look against the flying sand, and finally saw it. There indeed was some kind of large structure in front of them.

"It's a fortress!", Achen yelled.

"It has to be the correct one.", Merlac rejoiced.

"Why?"

"Because if it's not, we are going to waste a lot of time and put ourselves into danger."

"Good to know..."

After searching for almost half an hour, Merlac finally found a partly-buried switch, which would open the small, round doors into the partially ruined fortress.

"Get ready, as soon as I pull this switch, the door will be open only for a short time and then close again."

Achen and the four Urshilaku warriors waited next to the egg-shaped doorway, as Merlac pulled the rusty switch. Merlac was able to hear a quiet rumbling over the raging wind, and the stone doorway opened slowly.

"Go, now!", Merlac yelled and the others ran through the doorway. Merlac himself rushed after the others and jumped trough the doorway as well just before it closed.

Achen helped Merlac to stand up again. Merlac saw that they were in a small hall with one corridor leading downwards.

"Where is that light coming from? I thought we were going to need torches.", Achen wondered.

"Indeed, there are no windows or torches in the walls", a warrior agreed.

"The light is coming from those dwemer machines in the walls, I've seen them before. They must have worked hundreds of years."

While still wondering the strange machines and the spooky light they emitted, Achen and the Urshilaku warriors followed Merlac down the corridor.

"It's strangely quiet around here, I thought this would be swarming with creatures and Almsivi knows what else stuff."

"Yeah, they're all probably in the batt...", Merlac started, but like as an answer, metallic clatter started coming closer from the corridor in front of them.

The Urshilaku warriors aimed at the end of the corridor with their bows and Merlac and Achen took out their swords. Suddenly, two round metal balls rolled towards them up the corridor.

"Err... what the hell?", Achen wondered.

"Oh crap, sphere centurions! Those are dwemer machines who still patrol and guard these ruins!", Merlac yelled.

The two balls stopped twenty feet in front of the startled group and started opening. Two human-like robots rose from the balls and started pointing at the intruders with their built-in swords. The Urshilaku warriors started shooting arrows at the robots, but the wooden arrows smashed into pieces against the dwemer armour.

Merlac did not panic, but used the same tactic as many times before. He pointed at the roof above the robots with his palm and conjured a stunning spell at it. Part of the roof collapsed over the dwemer robots and crushed them.

"Sweat and clean.", Achen congratulated. Merlac grinned.

"Let's move on, the whole fortress probably heard that."

For the next half and hour, the group walked deeper and deeper inside the fortress, occasionally engaging smaller dwemer robots and blighted creatures. Merlac was about to suggest turning back and trying some other corridor, as they finally arrived to a larger hall with small fountains of lava in the corners. The walls had large tables and shelves, full of strange instruments, dwemer machines and animal skulls.

"Look! There!", one of the warriors yelled and pointed at the opposite wall of the hall. Merlac looked where the ashlander was pointing at and saw a small stage with a small, round table on it. On the table was a small, black pillow, and on the pillow laid a rather small, golden hammer.

Merlac was just about to go closer, as he heard one of the Urshilaku warriors scream in pain behind him. The whole group jumped around with their weapons ready, and saw an ash vampire standing in the doorway with a bloody dwemer dagger in his hands. The ashlander was laying on the floor inanimate with a bloody wound in his back.

Merlac didn't hesitate, but conjured a fireball against the ash vampire. The vampire reacted fast and reflected the spell with his hand, rebounding it against a shelf, which broke into burning pieces. Another Urshilaku warrior charged against the wizard, but he conjured a powerful spell that threw the man's smoking body against the opposite wall.

The two other warriors fired arrows at the ash vampire and Merlac used the moment to his advantage. The creature howled in pain as spell after spell struck him into the chest, leaving burning marks in the rotten flesh. Merlac conjured one more fireball and the ash vampire crashed through a wooden table, finally dead.

"Wow, that was rather cool.", Achen said.

"You have indeed become a powerful wizard, Merlac.", one of the warriors said.

"Thanks, that was nothing..."

"No, Merlac. Nibani Maesa told us to observe you, Nerevarine, you have shown magical abilities beyond the skills of the original general Nerevar, meaning the incarnation is not identical."

"Oh... ok, but we should continue now, before more Dagoth-buddies come here.", Merlac said and walked to the small table in the end of the hall.

"Is that it?", Achen asked and pointed at the small, golden hammer on the pillow.

The hammer was full of golden daedric markings, though it was not made of daedric metal. It had some ashlander symbols as well, but its design didn't look familiar to Merlac.

"It is the holy artefact, look!", one of the warriors said and pointed at the hilt of the hammer.

Merlac turned his head and read large letters in the side of the hilt.

"Sunder.", Merlac read.

"Oh well, rather obvious, isn't it?", Achen grinned, and before Merlac was able to stop him, he grabbed the hammer and turned it around.

"No!", Merlac yelled and pushed the hammer out of Achen's hands.

"What the hell is your prob...", Achen started, but then his face went pale, as he remembered what Vivec had said about Sunder and Keening and their magical abilities.

"Err... shouldn't you be dead or something? Do you feel anything?", Merlac asked sounding worried.

"Umm... no, nothing.", Achen replied and stared at his hands.

Merlac looked at the golden hammer, which was now laying on the floor.

"Be careful", Achen said.

Merlac kneeled next to the hammer, made sure he had the wraithguard properly in his hand, and touched the hammer. Nothing happened. Merlac took up the hammer and rose up. He turned it in his hand, but nothing showed it would be anything more than just a small hammer.

"Hit the table with it", Achen suggested.

The other took few steps backwards, as Merlac rose his hand and hit the table with the hammer. There was a quiet slam as the hammer hit the table, but nothing else happened. It had barely made any mark on the strong wood.

"Let me try", said Achen and took the hammer from Merlac's hand.

"Are you sure that's smart?"

"Nope, but I want to be sure.", Achen replied and hit the table with the full strength of his hands. To everyone's surprise, the hammer itself smashed into two pieces.

"What the...?", Achen breathed and stared at the wooden handle in his hand.

"Err... you broke the Sunder.", Merlac said.

"God damn, it must be a fake!", Achen cursed and kicked the table. The table cracked open and another small, golden hammer dropped from a secret safe.

"Everybody stay back!", Merlac yelled and carefully approached the second hammer.

As Merlac walked closer to the artefact, it started sparkling slightly. Merlac slowly lowered his hand on the handle of the hammer and rose it up. The hammer sparkled a bit but he didn't feel anything through the wraithguard.

"All right, I think this is the real stuff.", Merlac said and carefully put the small hammer into his belt.

"Ok, lets go then. We will have to hurry in case Sul-Matuul and the others have accidentally taken a fake Keening or something.", Achen said.

"I agree.", Merlac nodded and the group started heading towards the surface again.

Engaging only few small spider robots along the way, the companions reached the surface rather quickly. The weather around the mountain was the same as when they had entered the fortress, as the wind was still very strong and sand flying against their faces.

It took Merlac and the others almost two hours to reach the edge of the crater on the top of the Red Mountain. It didn't matter much though, as it was already very dark and impossible to see if it was day or night. When the small group approached the crater, they saw Sul-Matuul and the Urshilaku warriors already waiting there.

"Sul-Matuul, great to see you made it here!", Merlac yelled over the wind.

"Yes, we ran into some difficulties but we made it. However, I'm afraid to say that we lost three of my men. Two of them killed by an ash vampire and third ran into an ancient dwemer trap.", the ashkhan said sadly.

"We also lost two of you clanmates, I'm sorry.", Merlac replied.

"It's a great burden, but they all died for the cause."

Merlac nodded.

"Did you manage to get the Keening?", Merlac asked, though he wanted to ask how the ashlanders had defeated the ash vampire.

Sul-Matuul took a small bag from his back and opened it. He took out a small, wooden box with symbols of lightning on it, and the word 'Keening'.

"That was the only thing we were able to find, but we couldn't be sure as the box started sparkling as soon as we approached, so you'd better open it.

Merlac took the box and opened with the wraithguard in his hand. Inside the box was a short sword with a blade made of some kind of crystal. The blade glowed slightly in the dark box and the hilt sparkled a bit when Merlac took the sword out of the box.

"I think this is the right one, great job. We ran into a fake Sunder, so I had to be sure with this one."

"I wonder how is the battle going down there", Achen said suddenly and stared down the dark slopes of the mountain.

"There is no way of finding out yet, we must hurry just in case.", Sul-Matuul said.

Merlac nodded and peeked over the small rock they were hiding behind. On the other side was the huge crater of Red Mountain and built inside it, a enormous dwemer fortress itself.

"Home of Dagoth Ur.", Achen said quietly.

"Yeah, but we have a small problem. The Urshilaku don't know how to levitate and we only have one levitation potion for you, Achen, but the ashlanders can never reach the bottom of that crater."

"What if we try to find some rope or something?", Achen suggested.

"No, there wouldn't be enough strong rope, not even close."

"Merlac is right", Sul-Matuul said finally. "We cannot join you on this journey. We helped you as far as we could, but it is now up to you to find the false god and kill him."

"Are you sure about this?", Merlac asked.

"Yes, I am. Me and my men will join the battle for the Ghostgate and see if there is something we can still do."

Merlac looked at the large fortress and its towers inside the deep, dark crater, and then agreed.

"Sure, lets do so. Good luck, Sul-Matuul, and in case we don't return, thanks. I wouldn't be here without your tribe."

"Do not worry, young Merlac. You still have a great path to walk, it is you who needs to be wished luck to. I am honoured to be allowed to follow you this far and I'm sad I can't come any further. Farewell, Merlac, may our paths cross again."

The old Ashkhan made a symbol of friendship on his chest with his hand, and then turned around. Merlac and Achen stared after the ashlanders as long as they could not be seen anymore through the flying sand and darkness.

"So...I guess it's you and me alone again.", grinned Achen.

"Just like good old times", Merlac replied and tapped Achen in his shoulder.

"All right, lets go and find that little ash vampie!"


	30. Dagoth Ur

****

Chapter Twenty-nine: Dagoth Ur

The door squeaked behind Merlac and Achen and became sealed again. They had had only little trouble levitating themselves down the Red Mountain's crater and finding the entrance, as the raging wind and flying sand didn't reach the bottom of the crater.

"Hmh.", Merlac sighed.

"Something wrong?", Achen asked worried.

"No, it's just... when I arrived to Vvardenfell long time ago, this was the last place on Tamriel I though I would end up in. I didn't know crap about the Sixth House or Dagoth Ur himself and now I'm supposed to kill him."

"Heh, I can imagine how you feel. When I saved you from those thugs in Vivec I couldn't imagine where it would eventually lead me."

"You saved me? You must mean that I saved YOU!", Merlac laughed.

"Let's just say we both had a great time beating those losers."

"Losers...yeah...", Merlac gave a laugh as he remembered how he had arrived to Vvardenfell; as a prisoner from an Imperial prison.

"So what are you going to do after kicking the crap out of uncle Dagoth?", Achen grinned.

"Maybe it's a bit early to think something like that just yet."

"Nothing is too early for anything, it's good to think about things before they have to be done, you know? Do you have a girl or something?"

"No, I just...well....ok, there is this one cute girl I met in Vivec some time ago..."

"Excellent!", Achen rejoiced. "So... what does she do?"

"Well, she's a librarian."

"A librarian? Sounds boring... anything else?"

"Umm... despite the fact that she is a dissident priest, I helped him to escape from the ministry of truth and she is hunted by the temple and ordinators, no, nothing else."

"Oh you mean_ her!_ I remember her, you are talking about that girl who hugged you in Holamayan, aren't you?"

Merlac just grinned.

"Lets drop the subject, ok? We have time for this later. I don't want to talk about something like this while an ash vampire can jump out of some dark shadow at any moment.", Merlac said and they both gave a laugh.

The companions were walking down along a quiet, stone corridor, lit by those strange dwemer lamps. Suddenly, few steps under Merlac collapsed and he almost fell into the hole.

"Whoa! Be careful man, if you fall down into a pit like that, it will be up to me to find Dagoth Ur, and I'm not sure if I'm up to it by myself."

"Yeah, right, let's just be careful. Watch where you step, ok?"

"Me? It was you who almost fell dow...aaaaggghh!!"

Achen had barely taken a step, when the whole his side of the corridor collapsed and rumbled into the darkness. Merlac jumped into safety at the last possible second and was left staring in the pitch black hole, hopelessly.

"Achen? Achen!!!", he yelled into the pit. No answer.

Merlac took a small rock from the ground and dropped it into the pit. After few seconds of waiting, there was a very quiet sound somewhere deep under the corridor. There was no way Merlac could climb down the hole to help Achen, if he was even alive anymore.

For few minutes Merlac just stared down the pit without being able to think straight. Achen...his good friend and a loyal companion, lost, maybe forever. They had come so far together just to be divided so near the end. Merlac shook his head. It wasn't time for desperation, he had a job to do. He would just have to swallow his sorrow and come back for Achen later.

---

Merlac didn't know how long he had been in the underground fortress. He had just kept walking forward, deeper and deeper inside the mountain. The air was getting hotter all the time and he occasionally engaged some dwemer guardian robots and even two ash vampires, but Merlac had taken care of them with little trouble. Suddenly, the air didn't feel as hot as it had been in the previous corridor, and Merlac noticed he hadn't seen anything moving or attacking him for few moments.

Along the way, there had been very few doors between the corridors and rooms, but now Merlac had another large, metallic doorway in front of him. Something in the door caught Merlac's attention, the walls around it weren't built like the rest of the fortress, they were solid rock, carved into the mountain itself. He had to be very, very deep under Red Mountain.

Merlac prepared his sword and carefully opened the door. There was no room or corridor behind the door, but a small cave, which had been carved into the mountain. In the middle of the cave stood a man, or more like an ash vampire, just standing there near nothing. The man had a large, round, golden helmet in his head, but besides that he had very few clothes on him.

"Welcome, Nerevar. I've been expecting you.", echoed a bombastic male voice in the cave.

"Dagoth Ur", Merlac repeated and stopped about twenty feet in front of the man.

"It has been a long time since we last time met, general."

"I have never met you, Dagoth Ur.", Merlac replied defiantly.

"Ah, you mean this incarnation prophecy. We used to be friends, good friends, and it is not too late now. You have become strong, I can feel that. Join me, and we shall rule Morrowind together, as friends, as a God and his champion!"

"I will never join you!", Merlac spat.

"Hmh. Fool. How are you planning to stop me? With a pathetic sword?"

Merlac looked at this ebony broadsword and sheathed it.

"I thought as much", Dagoth Ur continued. "Though you were always a great fighter, you never had good abilities with magic. And even if you had... you cannot kill a GOD!"

"We will see.", Merlac said calmly.

"You don't even have a clue how powerful I am about to become! With the Hearth of Lorkhan, I will destroy the Tribunate and eventually continue towards Tamriel itself!"

"I know about the god you are building, Dagoth."

"A god? Hah! The dwemer machine is just a pawn of my might, Nerevar, it is I who is the real God! The people of Morrowind will fear both of us and feel my true might!"

"You are sick.", Merlac said with cold voice.

"It is you who is the sick one of us, as you do not see the truth! Release your anger then, you pathetic pawn of the Emperor, strike me down with everything you've got!", Dagoth Ur yelled.

Merlac did not hesitate, but indeed stroke the man with everything he had. Merlac pointed Dagoth Ur with his palms and conjured bright lightning from thing air, which burnt their way through his enemy's body. Enormous fireballs struck spell after spell Dagoth Ur's chest, throwing the entire body against the opposite wall of the cave.

After one minute of constant conjuring, Merlac finally stopped, completely exhausted. Merlac tried to catch his breath and stared at the burning remainings of Dagoth Ur's body.

Another minute passed and nothing happened. Merlac slowly walked to the smoking body and kicked its leg. The whole body vaporised into grey ash.

"Err... that was it?", Merlac wondered by himself.

Merlac looked around the small cave looking for something important. Where was the Heart of Lorkhan? Suddenly, Merlac noticed a second metal door he had not seen when he had entered the cave for the first time.

Merlac walked to the door and carefully opened it. As soon as it he felt the warm air flowing against his face, a bombastic, near-mad laughter echoed in the cave. Merlac walked through the doorway and found himself standing on a large cliff inside an incredibly large cave. Immediately after stepping through the door, Merlac was scared half to dead, as he saw the gigantic dwemer robot standing inanimate in the middle of the cave.

The cliff Merlac was standing on was near the chest of the mech and Merlac himself was barely as big as the nose of the human-formed robot. The entire enormous structure was surrounded with scaffoldings and suspended bridges. On the edge of the cliff stood Dagoth Ur himself, laughing like a madman.

"Did you really think you could kill a GOD just like that?", Dagoth Ur yelled.

Though Merlac was still a bit weak from the previous battle, he conjured a large fireball at the ash vampire. Dagoth Ur laughed even louder when the spell hit his chest and just vaporised into smoke. Spell after spell Dagoth Ur just absorbed into himself, without stopping laughing. It didn't take long before Merlac almost collapsed from weakness, but Dagoth Ur just kept standing.

"You are weaker than I predicted, Nerevar. Shame, I believed you would have more endurance. It's a pity I will have to kill you so soon. Oh well…",

Dagoth Ur pointed at Merlac with his palms, which started sparkling.

"Now you will feel the wrath of a GOD!", the ash vampire yelled and summoned a large fireball towards Merlac. However, Merlac reacted fast and conjured a strong magical shield around him which barely protected him from the strong spell.

"Oh? Very well then, it seems you are still willing to fight, yes? Let's have some fun then", Dagoth Ur gave a laugh and summoned two golden saints between himself and Merlac.

Merlac forced himself to stand up again and took out his ebony sword. He would now give Dagoth Ur the pleasure of him begging for Mercy.

Both the golden saints wielded long, glass swords and summoned shiny, dark green, glass shields from thin air, and charged towards Merlac. This wasn't the first time Merlac fought a daedric creature like these, but this time he was already very weak and there were two of them.

"Beg for your life!", Dagoth Ur yelled.

"Never!", Merlac yelled back and charged against the golden saints. Though he was able to duel with the saints, he knew this would get him nowhere. As soon as he killed the daedric creatures, Dagoth Ur would just summon more of them. Merlac had to fight the ash vampire himself, but he without a doubt had superior powers when compared to Merlac. Merlac had to find another way.

Merlac hit one of the golden saints directly into her chest, vaporising the daedra into thin air. Using the short moment of surprise, Merlac ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped down on a scaffold.

"Where are you going now?", Dagoth Ur laughed behind Merlac but Merlac ignored him.

Merlac was puzzled. Though his thoughts were disturbed by Achen's death, he knew he had to think straight.

"Come on, come on!", Merlac yelled to himself while running towards the gigantic robot. "Ok, Dagoth Ur gets his powers from the Heart of Lorkhan, which is also used to give the same powers to that robot he is building. That means…err…what does it mean? Ah yes, it means the Heart must be close to the robot!", Merlac grinned to himself and evaded a small spell the golden saint and conjured after him.

Like as an answer, Merlac saw it. About five meters above him, near the chest of the robot, was a large scaffold with decorated rock stage on it. Above the stage was something glowing brightly. Merlac turned around, killed the golden saint with a fireball and then levitated to the upper scaffold.

"What are you doing now?", Dagoth Ur's bored voice echoed around the cave, as he lazily walked along the scaffolds towards Merlac.

Merlac didn't bother to answer as he softly landed on the upper scaffold in front of the stage. There it was indeed; a powerful, magical heart of a strong daedra, floating above a stand. Thin, sparkling veins of some kind connected the heart to the metal of the robot. These were the lines Merlac had to cut.

As there was some kind of magical shield around the heart, Merlac decided not to even try normal weapons, so he sheathed his ebony broadsword. Merlac looked behind him to make sure Dagoth Ur was still in the midway of the scaffold, and took out the Sunder from his belt.

As soon as Merlac held the hammer in his hand, Dagoth Ur stopped walking and laughing. Merlac turned around again to see the expression on the ash vampire's face; it was almost scared.

"Where…how… you have the Sunder! What are you going to with THAT?!", Dagoth Ur yelled and Merlac could hear the fear in his voice for the first time.

Controlled by more instinct than brains, Merlac rose up the holy hammer and struck the hearth with all his strength. Merlac startled a bit as a some kind of shock wave was emitted from the heart and spreading around the cave. The heart itself was not damaged, but the veins didn't sparkle anymore.

"Stop that!", Dagoth Ur yelled behind him and Merlac could hear the ash vampire running towards him.

Merlac put the hammer back into his belt and took out the small crystal sword of Keening. Strike after strike, Merlac cut the veins connecting the heart to the robot. When there was only one more vein left, Merlac turned around and stared at Dagoth Ur.

"If you cut that vein, you will suffer longer than a God lives!", the ash vampire spat.

"Oh, really? That can't be very long then, because you are about to get your ass kicked!", Merlac yelled and swung the Keening towards the Heart of Lorkhan.

"NO!", Dagoth Ur screamed as the crystal sword cut the last remaining vein. The Heart of Lorkhan started smoking and melted away. Dagoth Ur himself was screaming in pain and holding his head.

"You're a god? Well I have to say you don't look like one, not anymore!", Merlac yelled at the screaming ash vampire.

Just when Merlac thought Dagoth Ur would die and collapse on the scaffold, he stopped screaming and stood up again. Merlac startled and wielded his ebony sword again.

"You…cannot…kill a GOD!", Dagoth Ur said, but his voice sounded weak.

"Well I have to admit I believed destroying the Heart would kill you.", Merlac said defiantly.

"You fool! You took away my powers, but I'm still stronger than you! You will pay for your mistake!", Dagoth Ur yelled and conjured a large fireball towards Merlac again.

Merlac barely evaded the spell and the rock stage exploded into pieces as the fireball struck it.

"Now, you will die!", the ash vampire roared and pointed at Merlac with his sparkling palms. Merlac was laying on the scaffold helplessly, with his sword only a meter away from his hand, but still too far away.

Just when Dagoth Ur was about to conjure another spell, a group of arrows flew through the air and stuck the ash vampire into his chest. Dagoth Ur yelled in pain and he and Merlac turned around to see the shooter.

To Merlac's surprise, standing on the edge of the cliff, were Sul-Matuul, Achen and two Urshilaku warriors, pointing at Dagoth Ur with their bows.

"Achen!", Merlac yelled and felt the warm feeling fill his body: his friend was alive!

Dagoth Ur roared and fired the spell towards the intruders instead of Merlac. The fireball struck the cliff harmlessly, without hitting Merlac's friends.

Merlac used the opportunity to his advantage, conjured a fireball and struck the bridge under Dagoth Ur with it. The wooden scaffold burnt into pieces and the ash vampire fell down screaming. Merlac stared down as Dagoth Ur's body hit the burning lava far away below them. Dagoth Ur was finally dead.

Achen and Sul-Matuul rejoiced on the cliff, but before Merlac was able to stand up, the entire cave started shaking. Enormous pieces of rock started falling down from the cave's roof and scaffolds broke apart.

"Quickly, get the hell out of there!", Achen yelled.

Merlac didn't waste a second, but grabbed his sword from the ground and levitated towards the cliff just before the stage collapsed to the lava as well.

Few seconds later Merlac landed on the cliff and ran after the others. Sul-Matuul and his warriors had already escaped through the doorway, but Merlac and Achen stopped for a second and stared around the huge cave, as the gigantic robot rumbled and collapsed slowly into the endless lake of lava at the bottom of the cave. Merlac and Achen turned around and ran after the others.

"How did you get here? I thought you would be dead!", Merlac yelled as they ran together.

"I thought that as well, until the Urshilaku warriors found me and healed my leg", Achen grinned and pointed at the small wound in his leg.

"But how did they…"

"They had found a some kind of secret entrance to the fortress outside the crater, they followed the caves and were rather surprised as they found me laying unconscious only few meters from a river of lava."

"Somebody might call that luck", Merlac grinned. "Anyway, I'm glad you didn't die and came after me. I would be dead right now without you."

"I'm glad as well that I didn't die", Achen grinned and they both gave a laugh.

As they reached the smaller cave where Merlac had first fought Dagoth Ur, they stopped and stared at a strange light blocking their way from the next doorway.

"What is that?", Achen gasped.

Merlac and the others stared in astonishment as the light began to have a recognisable shape, and finally a beautiful woman walked out of it.

"Azura!", Merlac breathed.

The Goddess smiled and walked towards the companions.

"Welcome, Nerevarine. You no longer bear the burden of prophecy. You have achieved your destiny, you are free. The doomed dwemer's folly, Lord Dagoth's temptation, the Tribunal seduction, the God's heart freed, the prophecy fulfilled. All hope sealed and sins redeemed. If you have pity, mourn the lost. But let the weeping cease. The blight is gone and the sun's golden honey gilds the land. Hail saviour, Hortator and Nerevarine, your people look for you for protection. Monster and villains great and small still threaten the people of Vvardenfell. Enemies and evils abound, yet indomitable will might rid Morrowind of all its ills. For you, our thanks and blessing. Our gift and token given, come, take this thing from the hand of God."

The Goddess handed Merlac a small golden ring, similar to the Moon-and-Star, and Merlac accepted it. The ring of Azura. Merlac took one more look at the woman, before she disappeared into thin air again. A great relief filled Merlac's body, as he finally felt free from his burden.

Half an hour later, the small group of companions reached the surface of the mountain again, and stepped into sunlight. The ash storm was gone, and the sky was clear. Merlac and Achen stared around them and saw the ground glittering in sunlight. Around the hills were standing hundreds of Hlaalu and Redoran soldiers, as well as Telvanni wizards. As they saw Merlac exit the fortress, they all rose their weapons and cheered. The rejoicing echoed around the barren hills of Red Mountain and warm wind fondled Merlac's hair.

"This ended up rather well after all, didn't it?", Achen grinned.

"Yeah… indeed it did. And I thank you for that, my friend.", Merlac smiled and tapped Achen into his back.

The sun shone from a cloudless sky, spreading light and warmth over Vvardenfell. The blight was gone and the people of Morrowind safe. Merlac knew what he had done, but something in his mind told him this might not be the last time. Merlac closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm sunshine…


	31. Credits and FAQ

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Credits, thanks and frequently asked questions

Wow, this is it then. After 25 months of writing, the story is finally finished. This is a great personal victory for me and I'm glad I was able to finish what I started. Though the quality of the story varies from time to time because of the occasional breaks I had in writing, I still enjoyed writing every single chapter. I hope you have had as good time reading my Morrowind fanfiction, as I had while writing it. However, a story wouldn't be a story without a short look behind the scenes…

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Why did you do it?

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of the greatest games I have ever played. Soon after installing it, I was completely surrounded by the plot. The story was something I had never seen in a game before, and I just felt I had to write about how I experienced it. Some people might wonder why did I make a writing from a plot of a computer game, but I don't regret it at all.

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Did you invent all that by yourself?

No, I didn't. Morrowind is a game made by Bethesda Softworks. It is the third game in the series of The Elder Scrolls. Morrowind currently has to expansion packs called the Tribunal and the Bloodmoon. The plot you saw in this writing was the main plot of the original Morrowind game. However, Merlac is my own character, as well as partly Achen.

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Achen is only partly yours?

Yes. It was a FanFiction-net-user called "Mage-Imperator" who first gave me the idea of adding a companion to my story. The character Achen was not actually what he wanted, but nevertheless I give him the credit for such a great idea.

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What about Merlac?

Merlac is my own character. Many of you might wonder what the word "Merlac" means and the answer is simple; it is a word combined from random letters few years ago, and I have used it as my IRC-nick since then. I noticed it would fit my story rather well…

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What now?

I will probably start writing a sequel to my Morrowind fanfic, that will follow the plot of the expansion pack called "The Tribunal". The story will take place some years after Merlac killed Dagoth Ur under Red Mountain and most of the events will take place in the capital of Morrowind; the city of Mournhold itself.

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Aren't there already stories about Morrowind and Tribunal?

Yes, there are. "Tribunal, Fall of Almalexia" by Kojiokida2 is a good example of a Morrowind-fanfic that follows the plot of the Tribunal expansion pack. However, each story is a unique despite the fact that they follow the same plot. I recommend reading all of them because they all give you a unique experience of the story.

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Did you learn all that just by playing the game?

No. Though I wrote most of the story from my memory, I also used several sources to get detailed information about the world of Tamriel and its residents. I will mention more of then in the end of this page.

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Why there are so many mistakes in the story?

There are few parts that I have intentionally changed to make the story fit a writing instead of a game. However, there are also several mistakes I made when writing from my memory, including a major mistake about mixing up Lord Vivec and the Emperor. I hope I have fixed all errors about that embarrassing mistake.

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Your English sucks!

True. English is not my native language, as I live in Finland. However, I have wrote this story with my best abilities and I hope to improve my skills as the time passes.

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Finally, who do you want to thank for this story?

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Bethesda Softworks, for making such a great game. The story would not have been possible without it.

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Fan , which is a great place for amateur writers to publish their fanfic stories about movies, series, games and stuff.

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Mage-Imperator, about the idea of making a companion for Merlac.

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All the people who commented my story while I wrote it, every single comment gave me more will to continue writing

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The Imperial Library ), which is a great source for in-game literature of Morrowind and gave incredible amounts of detailed information that helped me to write a detailed story.

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Gamebanshee ), which helped me memorizing the main parts of the plot and giving other detailed information.

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Several other people and sources I do not remember at this moment. They all made it possible and I owe them everything. One more time; Thank you.


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